Part I - Chapter 1: The Discovery

Part I

Chapter 1: The Discovery.

A group of nine tired ponies was struggling through the wild forest. They were surrounded by tall trees and there wasn’t any clear path, so they had to cut right through the bushes to reach their goal. The weather was quite unpredictable for they were traveling far beyond of Equestria. At least, it wasn’t raining yet, despite the heavy gray clouds hanging overhead.

Controlling the weather was a job for a whole weather team. The only two pegasi in the team, however, couldn’t do a thing about that. They were struggling to keep up with the others while walking on hoof, carrying loads of supplies on their backs, just like everypony else.

The unicorns weren’t faring any better. In fact, they seemed even more exhausted than the rest. Even the earth ponies, which were most numerous in the expedition, looked winded by their long journey.

The sun was nearing the horizon and soon would be setting, but it was already dark on the ground, under the canopy. Each pony had a band over their head with an enchanted glowing gem attached to it, allowing them to see their steps.

“We’re getting close,” said the earth pony in the lead, a stallion named Nightfall Shade.

The name went well with his appearance. The earth pony's dark blue coat and coal-black mane gave him a somber look. The fact that he was the leader of their expedition also added to that impression.

After hearing his words, the group perked up a little. They had been walking for a while now and wished to rest, but their leader kept pushing them forth. Hopefully, the expedition would reach their destination soon.

“What do you suppose got him so worked up, Bright?” asked a yellow unicorn mare to her partner in misery, the only other unicorn in their little group. Her blue mane with a streak of purple fluttered in the light breeze.

“He’s been looking for this place a long time, Sundae,” Bright scolded her. “It’s no wonder he wants to be there as soon as possible.”

“Right...” nodded the mare. What else could she expect from Morning Bright, Nightfall Shade’s personal student. He had been his loyal follower for years, so her complaints were falling on deaf ears with this unicorn. He would probably even share the Doctor’s eagerness, but he lacked the endurance of an earth pony.

Bright wasn’t very athletic even by the unicorn standards. He was rather skinny under his white coat. The pony’s short styled mane and tail were a dullish brown. But his impressive magical abilities compensated for his lack of physical strength. It wasn’t helping him now, though.

Despite feeling deadly tired herself, Sundae accelerated her pace to catch up with ponies in the lead. One of them was her close friend, Blue Ruby. She was an earth pony of the same age as Sundae. Her shiny azure coat was the same pleasing color as the sky itself. Sundae wanted to talk with her a little about the Doctor’s behavior.

“Ruby, slow down a little, I wanna talk,” Sundae said as she approached her friend.

“Uhh, okay”, they both made their way to the group’s tail to talk more privately. “What do you wanna talk about, Sunny?”

“Don’t you think the Doctor is pushing us too hard? I’m excited to explore the ruins myself, of course, but why can’t we have some rest already?” Sundae complained.

“Why don’t you ask the Doctor himself?” Ruby smirked.

“We don’t get along that well, you know that…” admitted the unicorn, “Can you talk to him instead?”

“Oh, but I already tried a few hours ago. He just told me to ‘toughen up’.”

“But can’t he see that we’re all too tired to continue today?”, Sundae asked, shaking her head in disappointment.

“I don’t think he cares,” Ruby stopped to give her friend a quick hug, “Listen, Sunny, I know you’re tired, but just keep up a little longer, okay? The pegasi have seen that the ruins are not far away anymore.”

“Okay…” Sundae pouted, “I’ll do my best.”

They both walked together in silence after that.

***

“We’re here, everypony,” an excited exclamation from the head of the group woke Sundae up from her trance.

She searched for the sound’s source and saw a green pegasus hovering above the ground with a happy expression on his face. She recognized him as Soft Breeze. He had always been an optimistic pony. Sundae nodded to Ruby and together they accelerated to a trot, reaching the ruins at the same time.

The ruins were…fascinating. It wasn’t something Sundae had expected to see. The expedition followed a lead that suggested it was an old lab of Starswirl the Bearded’s, but it clearly was something more. He was the greatest mage Equestria had ever known, but unless he was also a master-builder, he wasn’t the one to build this place, Sundae thought. It looked more like a small fortress.

She wasn’t even sure they could be called “ruins”. Despite being old, everything was in a good condition. The wide outer walls were still mostly standing, despite their obvious age, though Sundae could see a few cracks. They were untouched by vegetation, like they’d been protected by some kind of magic. Lighting up her horn, the mare cast a quick magic detection spell and confirmed her theory.

“Oh…” Sundae suddenly felt lightheaded. Apparently, she was more tired than she had realized. In her usual condition, the mare could cast much more powerful spells and not even blink, but right now she was beat.

“Are you alright?” Ruby asked, putting her foreleg on Sundae’s back.

“Yeah, just a little tired, I guess.”

“A little? Come on, even I can barely stand!” smiled Ruby encouragingly. “It’s okay to feel like that.”

Sundae just answered with a nod. Putting a magical examination of the ruins on her to-do list for tomorrow, she walked through the archway where the gate should have been. There was no sign of it now.

Sundae found herself in the yard, where the rest of their little group were already setting up the tents. The ground was covered in evenly cut plates of stone. Not a single sprout of grass had managed to grow through for all these years. She decided it was probably the same enchantment as on the walls, while slowly stepping on them.

The main building stood in the middle of the yard, surrounded by walls from all sides. It was a grand and heavy construction, made out of gray stone. The building reminded Sundae of a big box. It certainly wasn’t an architectural marvel, but it looked pretty solid. And considering its age – it was. There weren’t any windows, just the big gate at the front with the stairs leading to it. The gate was closed, but that was a problem for tomorrow.

Sundae dropped her heavy saddlebags on the ground and fell on her back with a moan. She didn’t care how she would look to a random observer – her back was aching. The pony rolled on a stone plate a few times and then stretched herself, making a series of popping sounds.

“You do know you look silly right now?” Ruby approached her with a grin.

“I know, but I don’t really care at this point,” Sundae met her gaze with a tired grin of her own. “I’m just happy to lie down at last. Even my hooves are aching!”

“I know what you mean,” her friend dropped her bags and lowered them next to Sunny. “But we’re finally here, after months of searching. How about that?”

“It’s great, but I honestly couldn’t care less right now,” Sundae said, yawning. “All I need is just a nice soft bed and I’d be the happiest mare in Equestria.”

“I like your idea,” Ruby laughed. “But let’s settle for something more rural for now. Come on, we need to set up a tent. You wouldn’t want to be sleeping out in the cold, would you?”

Sundae opened her mouth, but the earth pony interrupted her before she could say a word.

“I know, I know, you don’t care and you totally would. You’d be a cave pony at this point if it weren’t for me.” Ruby scratched her chin, like she was a pet already.

“Hey, I can take care of myself just fine…” Sundae said, batting her friend’s hoof away.

“Sure, Sunny, I totally bought it,” Ruby nodded with a solemn expression. She kept it for a few seconds and then chuckled. “Anyway, I’ll set up a tent for us both.”

“I can help,” Sundae rolled on her belly and made an attempt to stand up, but Ruby gently lay her hoof on her.

“It’s no trouble for me, don’t you worry.”

The unicorn flicked her ears and sighed. She didn’t like feeling dependent on others. But she still appreciated Ruby’s help.

“Thank you, Ruby.” Sundae mumbled.

She started working at once, while Sunny just lay there, lazily looking around. The camp was mostly set up and somepony had already prepared a camp fire. One of the pegasi, the optimistic Breeze, made a short trip outside the walls and returned with a bunch of dry wooden sticks.

“Can I get your attention, everypony?” the loud and authoritative voice suddenly broke the silence. All work stopped immediately and ponies turned their gaze to the dark blue earth pony, standing by the fire.

“After the long journey, we’re finally here today…” Nightfall Shade started his speech. He went on and on for a while about the importance of their discovery for Equestria and stuff like that, but Sundae felt her attention drifting away.

She had almost fallen asleep, when she was suddenly jerked awake by somepony pushing her in the shoulder.

“Hey, Sundae, pay attention,” the mare looked up to see Morning Bright standing over her. She noticed that his white coat had been really muddy. He could really use a shower, thought Sundae to herself. On the other hoof, she was sure that her own appearance was no better.

“You’re clearly out of it,” continued Bright slightly frowning his muzzle. “I need you at your best tomorrow, so try to rest, okay?”

“That’s exactly what I’m planning to do now, thanks for your concern,” Sundae answered a little snappily. Bright just silently nodded and returned to his own tent. The pony watched him leave in silence.

The two unicorns were the only magical experts on the expedition. Despite both of them being of the same age, Morning Bright understood magic much better than Sundae. She looked at his flank and studied the cutie mark. It pictured sunrays shining over some hills. Like a sunrise in the morning, when Celestia had not yet raised it over the horizon.

It probably meant that Bright was good at magic. Sundae never asked what exactly his special talent was. They weren’t on the best terms with each other. She had no quarrel with him personally, but he was Nightfall Shade’s protégé. That earth pony hated Sundae’s guts and she preferred to have as little interaction with him as possible with him being the leader and all.

Sundae turned her head to see her own cutie mark of an old-style vase. She got it when she had found exactly the same vase in the basement of an abandoned building. Her special talent was in searching old stuff, she had always figured.

That line of thought got her thinking about her home in Manehattan. She hadn’t been there for a few years now. Sundae wondered how her parents were doing now. The pony didn’t notice herself falling asleep right there, on the cold stone plates of the laboratory’s yard.

***

“Rise and shine, sweetie!” the loud and obnoxious voice of Ruby destroyed the nice dream Sundae was having.

“Shut up,” she folded her ears to block the annoying sound.

“It’s time to work,” Ruby continued unperturbed. “Bright sent me to wake you up.”

Sundae opened her eyes reluctantly. She was inside the small tent. A second mattress beside the unicorn suggested the other pony had been sleeping there with her. But her friend had obviously already woken up earlier as she stood at the exit with a big grin.

“You totally fell asleep outside! Just as I was expecting!” Ruby exclaimed, “I had to drag your heavy booty in here with my own hooves!”

“I’m not heavy,” Sunny protested. Ruby just winked in answer.

Sundae slowly rose on all fours and stretched herself, clearing her body from a sleepy stiffness. She trotted outside, brushing past her earth pony friend.

It was early in the morning and Celestia had just raised the sun. Everypony else in the camp was still sleeping, except for the Doctor and his protégé, who were discussing something by the central structure’s gate.

Sundae frowned in displeasure. She had no desire to talk with the Doctor, but Bright needed her for something, so she had no choice. With a resigned sigh, the mare headed in their direction. Ruby trotted by her side without a word, for which Sunny gave her a grateful nod.

The two ponies stopped talking as the mares approached them. The Doctor looked at Sundae with narrow eyes, but said nothing. Morning Bright stepped in front of him:

“We’re going to open the gate, but first we have to make sure there aren’t any magical traps. It was Starswirl’s lab after all.”

“Sounds reasonable.” Sundae agreed in a neutral tone.

“Your talent is going to be useful here,” Ruby nuzzled her cheek. The still silent doctor furrowed his brows slightly at that display of affection.

“I’ve already checked everything,” Bright continued. “Your job is to look over it again just in case I missed something.”

“That’s simple enough,” Sundae nodded. “Give me half an hour to grab something to eat and I’ll be ready.”

“You’ve got it. Tell me when you’re done.” Bright waved his hoof dismissively.

For a second, the Doctor looked like he was about to say something, but in the end he remained silent. Sundae flicked her tail in annoyance. His passive-aggressive attitude towards her was getting on her nerves. She hadn’t done anything to deserve this.

The friends turned around and went to a campfire together. A bowl of hot water was already boiling over it. Sundae levitated the bowl to the ground, while Ruby took two cups from their saddlebags. They quickly made tea and soon were slowly sipping from it.

“Too bad we’ve run out of biscuits,” Ruby commented.

“And you always claim I’m the one who’s not ready for the wilderness,” Sunny smiled, taking another sip. “But I agree, it’s no fun to drink tea with nothing to munch on.”

“Yeah,” the other pony pouted for a moment. “But it doesn’t matter. Why are you so tense around the Doctor?”

“Because he hates me. It’s a long story…And I kind of don’t want to talk about it.” Sundae frowned.

“Oh, okay. I understand,” Ruby put a hoof on Sundae’s shoulder. “Anyway, I’m gonna help you with your task.”

“Help? But you don’t know magic,” the unicorn raised her eyebrows questioningly.

“But I do know the old ruins. Some magical traps can easily be missed by stuck-up unicorns like you,” Ruby said, teasingly poking at Sunny’s horn. She just rolled her eyes at that.

“It’s fine, I guess,” Sundae nodded. “I’m sure Bright won’t mind.”

“Why would he? It’s not like I have anything better to do while the gate is closed.”

“Right…”

They finished tea together and put the cups away. The camp ponies had started to wake up by that time. Once in a while somepony would crawl out of a tent to pour tea for themselves. Most of them looked grumpy and weary, despite the night’s sleep. They clearly needed more time to recover after yesterday’s march.

The friends quickly retreated from their place by the fire and went to find Bright. They found him at the same spot as before, but without the Doctor. He was reading some old-looking scroll, which he put away when he saw the ponies.

“Ah, you’re ready. Finally,” the white unicorn said in a slightly annoyed tone. “All you need is just to check out the gate. I’ve found no traps, but I don’t want to find out I was wrong when some poor pony loses their limb or something.” He noticed the mare’s horrified expression. “I have seen that happen before, you know.”

“We definitely don’t need anything like that here,” Nightfall Shade’s voice suddenly rang out from behind them. Sundae jumped – startled – and turned around, folding her ears. She didn’t hear him approach. The Doctor looked her in the eyes. “I can’t deal with such a mess again, so check everything carefully.”

Sundae just nodded nervously without saying a word. After that he lost interest in her and walked away, taking his loyal unicorn with him. Sundae relaxed as soon as he walked away. The mare wondered if they were telling the truth. She didn’t know anything about that. Although she hadn’t seen the Doctor for the past few years, so who knew what he was up to.

“He dislikes you,” Ruby stated after a few moments of silence.

“No, really?” Sunny answered sarcastically. “Come on, let’s check this damn gate.”

The pony turned to ascend the stairs, but her friend stopped her by grabbing Sundae by the shoulder.

“What’s the matter?” Sundae asked her.

“Wouldn’t you want to check the stairs first in case of traps?” Ruby suggested.

“Oh…” the unicorn blushed slightly. “You’re right, I forgot.”

“Don’t let the Doctor get to you, Sunny.” Ruby patted the pony on her back reassuringly.

Over the next few minutes, they were busy studying the stairs very thoroughly. Sundae’s horn was glowing constantly, casting various probing spells to reveal any possible traps, while her earth pony friend had been using her own senses and experience to find anything. They both came up empty in the end, confirming Morning Bright’s results. The mares repeated the same routine on the gate itself. It turned out to be just as safe as the stairs.

Sundae and Ruby stood in front of the heavy stone gate, studying it from up close. The thing didn’t have any visible way of opening it. Obviously, there had to be some kind of mechanism to slide it either up or down, but Sundae hadn’t seen any trigger yet.

“How will we get inside if we can’t figure out how to open that gate?” Sundae asked her friend.

“Can’t you unicorns just blast it open or something?”

“It’s the archeological find of the century!” Sundae exclaimed. “It was clearly built in the pre-Equestrian era and we know so little of that age! I wouldn’t blow it up even if I had the power to do so!”

“Relax, I’m just kidding,” Ruby chuckled. “So do you think it’s really the Starswirl’s lab? It looks pretty big.”

“I don’t know,” the unicorn admitted. “I thought we were gonna find an old shack or something, but it’s clearly something more. If it really is his lab, then he must have converted an old building for his purposes.”

“I agree. Even being the great unicorn that he was, he wouldn’t build something like that alone.” Ruby knocked on the stone surface for emphasis.

A low rumble suddenly came from the gate and startled both ponies. It trembled menacingly. The ponies fell on their haunches and watched with big eyes as the gate slowly started rising.

Part I - Chapter 2: The Mirror

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Chapter 2: The Mirror.

Luckily for them no traps had been activated. They both let out a breath they didn't realize they were holding. Sundae looked at her friend’s scared face and she looked back. She realized the same expression must have been on her face too.

Nothing bad happened, they had just somehow triggered the door’s opening system, she calmed herself. The mare felt her ears slowly rise to their normal position. She stood up and looked inside the building. It was dark there.

“That was quite a doozy!” Ruby laughed. “That’ll teach me not to touch anything in the unchecked ancient ruins.”

“But we did check them,” Sundae objected. “How could we both have missed it?”

“It was Starswirl’s place,” her friend pointed out. “No offence, but I think you’re out of his league. If there are any traps in here, we will never find them, unless they blow up in our face. Literally.”

“That sounds reasonable,” Sunny said, rubbing her slightly aching horn.

They heard a commotion behind them. Turning around, they saw that the whole group had gathered by the stairs. They seemed excited, especially Rose, a young pegasus mare with a light golden coat. Her mane’s hue gradually shifted from black to gray. She was hovering above the crowd and gazed at the open entrance with awe.

It’s not surprising, considering she was the biggest history nerd Sundae had ever met. She was also a strong flyer on top of that. They had become good friends on the expedition, despite arguing with each other a lot. Rose considered herself right in every situation and often jumped to conclusions, which irritated Sundae to no end.

“How did you manage to open the door so quickly?” the pegasus exclaimed in wonder.

“Um, it sort of just…happened,” Ruby shrugged with a silly smile.

“It really was just an accident,” Sundae agreed.

“The most important thing is that we can explore the ruins now and confirm it’s really the lab we were looking for.” Nightfall Shade said calmly, though Sundae felt the eagerness in his voice. Then he looked at the two mares and gave them a curt nod. “Good job, both of you.”

“Thanks, Doc.” Ruby smiled, while Sundae just answered with a nod of her own.

The ponies started discussing the new development among themselves. Rose wanted to explore the building immediately, while most of the others thought it was too risky to go unprepared. Sundae was silently agreeing with them.

“So when are we going in?” the excited pegasus asked the Doctor.

“Soon, Rose,” the Doctor assured her. “After we make sure there is no danger.”

“Come on, we’re not some little kids. We know how to take care of ourselves.” Rose argued.

“She is right,” seconded the big, tough-looking green stallion.

“I was put in charge of the expedition by the College board,” Shade suddenly exploded, stomping his hoof on the stone plate. “If you have a problem with the way I do things, you should have stayed in Canterlot!”

Morning Bright comes forward to stand by his teacher’s side. Rose was taken aback by their leader’s outburst. The conflict quickly subdued after that. The ponies returned to the tents one by one to finish their interrupted breakfast. Rose was the last one to reluctantly leave. Soon no one but the mares responsible for the ruckus, along with the Doctor and Bright, remained by the stairs.

“So…” Ruby broke the silence, sounding a little unsure, “Since we’ve opened the door, should we continue our search for traps inside?”

Shade looked at her as if she had just suggested jumping off a cliff. Ruby drooped her ears.

“Absolutely not,” the Doctor rejected her idea out of hoof. “Me and Bright are the ones who are best prepared to deal with that kind of a situation.”

“You’d better go to the camp and wait, while we make sure the ruins are safe for the others to enter,” Bright added.

“We understand,” Sundae nodded solemnly, wishing to avoid an argument.

She descended the stairs and walked past the two ponies with her friend closely behind. Sundae flicked her tail in annoyance: she tended to feel nervous whenever somepony was following directly behind. But her friend did that often, for some reason.

“What a dick!” exclaimed Ruby as soon as they got out of earshot.

“Watch your language, please,” cringed Sundae.

“But she’s right,” Rose, landed near them to join the conversation. “I’ve come here to explore, but he just wants to get everything first!”

“You’re right, I guess…” agreed Sundae. “But what can we do? He’s in charge.”

Rose pretended to think hard for a few seconds and then said sarcastically:

“We can, I don’t know, just ignore him and go in ourselves?”

“Yeah, what would he do? Write a complaint?” snickered Ruby.

Sundae didn’t like what her friends were planning to do. Her relationship with the Doctor had been quite bad since she rejected Shade’s proposal to become his personal protégé in the College. She had her own plans at the time. It was a common practice there for a professor to find a special student to be his pupil. The tradition was started by Celestia herself in her own school and but quickly spread to the others.

Doctor Shade’s pride was badly hurt by the rejection and he soon found Bright, who had been his loyal student for a few years now, but Sundae and the Doctor hadn’t reconciled yet. She feared that they never would now. Sunny had given up on the idea a long time ago, but she still respected him due to his broad knowledge. He really was one of the best teachers in the College.

“So, are you with us, Sunny?” both ponies looked at her inquiringly.

“I don’t know…” the unicorn said, poking the ground with a hoof.

“Come on, Sunny,” Ruby punched her on the shoulder lightly, “It’s gonna be fine.”

“Yeah, let’s go now!” Rose flapped her wings, ready to burst off the ground again.

“I can’t stop you, if you really want to,” Sundae shook her head in frustration, but and then smiled, “I guess, I’d better go with you to make sure you won’t get in trouble.”

“That’s my girl,” Ruby patted her on the head, triggering an annoyed huff at the gesture.

Their small group turned around and headed back to the building. The Doctor and Bright were nowhere to be seen. They’d probably already gone inside.

The ponies stood before the opening and, after a brief moment of hesitation, they trotted in. It was pretty dark there, in contrast to the brightly lit outside, but everypony had a glowing gem on their head to illuminate the way. It was a useful, though not cheap, amulet to have.

The group was walking through a long corridor, leading straight forward without any turns. Sundae wondered again about the purpose of this building. Finally, the group reached the end of the corridor.

They were now in a small room with a bunch of doors in every direction. The doors here weren’t the same as the entrance gate. Instead of being made of stone, they were made of wood. Even after all those years they still looked sturdy.Opposite the corridor were stairs, leading up and down from this level.

A sound behind one of the doors aroused the ponies’ attention. The door at their right had opened and the Doctor and Bright came through, talking about something. They stopped at the sight of the three friends. The Doctor’s face quickly changed from confusion to anger.

“What the hell are you doing here?!” Shade bellowed.

“Exploring, the same as you,” deadpanned Rose.

“The Doctor and I haven’t checked everything for traps yet,” explained Bright calmly. “You’d better leave now.”

“Come on,” Ruby exclaimed throwing up her hoof, “If there had been any traps, we would have stumbled upon them at the entrance!”

“Starswirl never struck me as the pony to put other’s lives in danger with some traps,” added Sundae quietly.

“We can’t take this chance!” the Doctor faced her directly and advanced a step toward the mare. “Are you ready to risk the lives of your friends?”

“N-No…” Sundae lowered her gaze, her ears drooping.

“We all know the risks,” Rose stepped between the Doctor and Sundae. “I assure you, we’re ready for this just as well as you are.”

“Have you studied the magical traps specifically before the expedition?” inquired Bright. “Because I have.”

“Why didn’t you find the door’s opening trigger then?” Ruby waved a hoof at him dismissively. “I was the one who did it.”

“Enough of this!” Shade stomped his hoof loudly. “Get out!”

“Make me,” Rose flared her wings angrily.

“I have a suggestion, Doctor,” Bright intervened calmly. All the eyes turned their attention to him in confusion.

“We have already checked this room, no danger here,” he nodded in the room’s direction. “Why don’t we let them inside? There are plenty of things for them to do.”

“There are?” Sundae raised her eyebrows.

“Yes,” Bright looked at her, “We think Starswirl used it for storage. There are lot of artefacts in there, including a pretty powerful one.”

“That’s why we came here in the first place!” Ruby rejoiced.

“It’s actually not a bad idea,” the Doctor rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Okay, I’ll allow it.”

“He’ll allow it!” Rose shook her head in outrage. “You…”

“It’s fine, we got what we wanted,” Ruby’s hoof on her back stopped Rose from saying something she would probably regret later.

Nightfall Shade looked at her with narrowed eyes.

“Just don’t go anywhere else,” growled the Doctor.

“Got it, boss,” Ruby made a lousy attempt to salute.

With the conversation over, Shade and Bright moved past the other ponies and vanished behind the next door. With them gone, Sundae relaxed noticeably.

“I hate this pony,” mumbled Rose under her breath, but Sunny caught it.

“Doctor Shade is not that bad,” she said, defending the pony in question. “He’s just…stubborn. And he hates when things don’t go as planned.”

“Whatever,” Rose waved off her reasoning, “Let’s just see what’s inside.”

She opened the door and went in first, with Ruby right behind her. Sundae was the last one to enter. She was expecting to see something exciting. The ancient artefacts of Starswirl himself for her to study – an old dream coming true!

Instead, she walked into a rather small room full of various shelves along the walls. There were a few things inside them here and there, but most of them were empty. Sunny couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. But then something caught her eye. At first, she took it for an old doorframe, leaning on the wall. But when she trotted closer, she realized it was actually a mirror.

The mirror was large, even taller than her, which is why the pony took it for a doorframe at first. It was quite simple in design: just a rectangle with a mirrored glass in the middle. There wasn’t any fancy ornament on the frame.

Sunny cast a magic detection spell and the mirror lit up like a supernova in her vision. She gasped in surprise and took an involuntary step back. The objects on the shelves were glowing too, suggesting small enchantments, but they seemed almost nonexistent compared to the mirror.

“Horseapples!” Sundae cursed out loud.

“What’s wrong?” the two other ponies turned to her in surprise.

The unicorn dismissed the spell and shook her head to clear her vision. Then she gathered her thoughts to better explain the situation.

“It looks like we’ve found something that would make our expedition worthwhile already,” Sunny said slowly.

“Care to explain?” Rose frowned at her ambiguity.

“Bright was right, that mirror is full of powerful magic,” Sundae pointed her hoof in its direction. “That thing is most certainly a powerful artefact, created by Starswirl himself!”

“Incredible!” Ruby’s face lit up with delight. “I knew we would find something good!”

She walked towards the mirror with a silly smile on her face.

“No touching,” Sundae warned her. “Remember the door? That thing could be much more dangerous.”

The earth pony stopped a few meters short before the mirror. She looked back at Sundae.

“I wasn’t going to,” Ruby claimed, blushing a little.

“Sure,” Sundae agreed quickly. “Anyway, we’d better bring the others here. They would want to see it.”

“I’ll go get them,” volunteered Rose and flew out of the room, not bothering to wait for an answer.

Sundae took a few steps towards the mirror and studied it more closely. The wooden frame looked crudely done by some amateur, but the glass itself was perfect. She lit up her horn with an illumination spell and in its bright glow she noticed something weird.

The mirror wasn’t reflecting her. In fact, it wasn’t reflecting anything in the room. That was weird. The light vanished into the silver surface of the mirror.

Sundae stood directly in front of the artefact. The object was emanating such a powerful magic aura that it couldn’t possibly be a simple mirror, Sundae decided. It demanded her full attention. She leaned her head to its surface, trying to see something, but failing to do so.

“What are you doing?” Ruby’s question brought Sundae back from her thoughts.

“Trying to think in peace.”

“Do you know what that thing is for?” Ruby ignored Sunny’s hint.

“No.”

“I think it’s a portal!” the earth pony smiled victoriously.

“A portal…” Sundae looked at her in shock. “You may be right!”

“Of course I’m right,” Ruby smugly said, “Not only you unicorns know something about magic. I’ve read about portals in History of Magic.”

“Ah, yes, that book!” Sundae nodded eagerly, “I remember it too now. But it said the concept was extremely complicated and all attempts to make one failed.”

“Well, perhaps Starswirl succeeded where others had failed,” theorized Ruby, “It wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for him.”

“We can’t know for sure until we test it somehow,” Sundae said rationally.

The door opened with a creak at this moment and five other ponies came into the room. Three of them were the actual scholars, including Rose, while the other two were just the guides: Soft Breeze, a pegasus, and his earth pony colleague. Sundae realized that she had never gotten his name. They had been hired by the College and without their help, the expedition would have failed a long time ago.The scholars, Professor Green Fields and his assistant, were also from the College.

“Have you figured out what it is?” Rose asked as soon as she got in.

“We think it’s a portal,” Ruby shared her theory with the new arrivals.

“A portal? Very interesting,” commented Professor Green Fields.

He was the big, green stallion who supported Rose against the Doctor by the entrance. The Professor asked to join the expedition because of his desire to study magical artefacts, even though he couldn’t use magic himself with him being an earth pony. He hoped to find some of them when he learned about the expedition’s purpose. It looked like his bet had paid off.

“Yes,” confirmed Sundae. “I was just saying that we should test if it works.”

“That is always a good idea,” agreed Fields.

“So, who’ll be the first to enter?” smiled Ruby.

The others looked at her like she had gone mad. The pony drooped her ears: “Just kidding…”

“We should throw something into it,” Fields suggested.

“Of course. We would need a rope, so we could pull the object back,” Sundae nodded thoughtfully.

Hearing this, Soft Breeze took off his saddlebag and got out a coil of rope. Sunny grabbed it in her magic grip and levitated it close. She nodded thankfully to the pegasus.

“That will do,” she said, “Now somepony get me something you don’t need because there is no guarantee you’ll get it back safely.”

“I think we had better use organic matter,” Fields offered an idea. “That way, we’ll see if the portal’s magic has a negative effect on living things.”

“You want to throw some critter in there?” gasped Ruby dumbfounded.

“Of course not!” Fields looked appalled at the very idea. “Just a branch from a nearby tree would work just fine for the test.”

“Oh…sorry then.”

“It is fine,” Fields assured her. Then he addressed the pegasus guide: “Can you get it for us, please?”

“No problem,” answered Soft Breeze.

The group had been discussing the portal’s theory while waiting for the pegasus to return. They all agreed that it was generally considered impossible to build the thing and wondered if Starswirl had been the one to solve all the complications. After all, he’d done incredible feats of sorcery before. No unicorn had ever come close to his level after his mysterious disappearance.

The door opened again behind them. Sundae looked to see the Doctor and Bright walk in. They had an aura of disappointment around them, like they had failed in something. She wondered why.

“We have found no traps,” the Doctor announced to everypony. “So you’re free to explore the open parts of the building as you wish.”

“Have you found Starswirl’s lab?” asked Ruby.

“No, but there are some doors we haven’t been able to open yet,” Nightfall Shade shook his head with a deep frown.

“I think the most interesting thing we’ve found so far is in this room,” Bright pointed out the mirror by the wall. “Its magical aura is huge.”

“Sundae has already told us that,” Ruby informed him. “We all agree it’s the portal Starswirl was working on.”

“I’ve also come to this conclusion,” Bright nodded. “He failed, though.”

“How do you know?” somepony asked him.

“The magical energy flow just looks off to me,” explained the unicorn, “That’s not what you usually see in the properly working artefacts.”

“Fascinating…” Fields looked impressed.

“Perhaps you would have noticed this too if you had studied magic better, Sundae,” suddenly remarked the Doctor.

Sundae sighed and didn’t say anything in response to this jab at her skills because she too agreed with this on the inside. The mare lowered her eyes, ashamed of her failure. She should have been studying better, but something was always distracting her.

“Hey, that was just plain rude!” Rose angrily frowned at him.

“That was very unprofessional of you, Shade,” seconded Fields.

The Doctor glared at them annoyedly, but made no further remarks. He didn’t use to be this bad, reflected Sundae, but lately his temper had been getting the better of him more and more often. He seemed annoyed and frustrated, for some reason.

The door opened with a loud bang, startling the ponies inside. Even Bright twitched an ear. The pegasus flew in, hovering above the floor because he was carrying a whole stack of tree branches in his forelegs. He dropped them in the middle of the room.

“I hope that’s enough.”

“What is this nonsense about?” the Doctor demanded.

“They want to check if the portal works by throwing sticks into it, Doctor,” reported Soft Breeze.

“It doesn’t,” Shade rejected the idea, “If Starswirl had succeeded, he wouldn’t have left the thing just lying here.”

The mood in the chamber dropped significantly after his blunt statement. The ponies were viewing the portal in a new light. The Doctor’s words definitely made a lot sense.

“We should test it in action before we make any hasty assumptions,” Fields tried to remain optimistic.

“Do as you wish,” the Doctor waved his hoof. “We’ve got better things to do. Me and Bright will try to gain the access to the rest of the building now.”

“I’ll go with you,” Rose stated.

“Out of the question,” Shade cut her off, “The rest of the building may be dangerous. Stay here until we say it’s safe.”

Rose wanted to argue at first, but then thought better of it at the last moment. She watched in annoyance as the Doctor and Bright left the room together. After a few seconds of silence, the mare said:

“He probably just wants to claim anything valuable he finds for himself!”

“The doctor is a respected pony. He wouldn’t do something like that,” Soft Breeze objected.

The guide was brought on the expedition by the Doctor himself, so he felt some kind of loyalty towards the pony for hiring him.

“We can talk about that later,” Fields ended the argument before it had even begun. “Right now we need to see if this portal actually works.” He looked at Sundae and raised an eyebrow.

“Fine. Let’s do it, then,” she nodded to him.

Then Sundae enveloped one of the branches brought by Soft Breeze in her magic and tied the rope around it in a knot. She inspected it for a moment and then simply threw the object into the mirror.

Everypony held their breath when the branch simply went through and vanished, instead of bouncing back from the surface, as they half expected. Sundae waited a whole minute before she pulled the rope back. The branch came out seemingly unharmed, every leaf remaining in place.

“It looks the same. I don’t think the portal affected it!” Fields exclaimed excitedly.

“It means the portal works!” Rose shared his excitement.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, okay?” Sundae remained cautious. “We should bring the artefact into the College for research.”

“Yes, that’s only reasonable, I suppose,” agreed Fields.

Sundae cast a magic sight spell. It allowed her to observe the enchantment at work. She could see the thaumatic flow of the artefact now. It looked too complicated for her to understand how it worked or even if there was something wrong with it. Bright seemed to be able to do that, which frustrated the unicorn. She turned her spell off.

“Saw anything interesting?” Ruby asked.

“No,” Sundae shook her head sadly. “You were right, Starswirl’s level of magic is way out of my league…”

“Oh, don’t take my silly words too close to heart!” her friend drooped her ears, seeing Sundae’s distress. She came closer and embraced Sunny in a tight hug. It made both of them feel a little better.

“Is that really all we can do?” Rose disappointedly looked around the group, hoping for someone to offer her a retort.

There was a long silence in the room. The ponies just stood there, looking at each other nervously. Sundae tried to think of anything short of sending a real living creature through it. But the problem was that it was the only way for them to prove if the mirror really works. She wasn’t going to do that, of course.

“It is,” confirmed Sundae. “We don’t know for sure if it really works…”

“But that branch you sent through is perfectly fine!” Rose interrupted her. “Surely, it means something!”

“No,” Sundae didn’t share her optimism. “Bright said something is wrong with the portal and he knows magic better than me.”

“Screw Bright, he knows nothing of Starswirl’s magic.” she waved her hoof dismissively. “I have been studying him my whole life, he was a genius! The portal works and I’ll prove it.”

Having said this, she moved to the portal determinately. Sundae and Ruby blocked her passage. Rose scowled at them angrily.

“Get out of the way,” demanded the pegasus.

“What are you doing, Rose?” Sundae asked her incredulously.

“Yeah, are you nuts?” Ruby added with her usual tact.

“Even since I was a little filly, I have wanted to be an explorer,” Rose tried to explain frantically, “Now I get to be the first one to explore this new magical marvel!”

“But we don’t know where it leads, even if it is working!” Sundae burst into screaming at the stupid mare.

“Then let me go and find out!” Rose retorted in the same manner.

“We can’t stop her, Sundae,” Fields joined the argument on Rose’s side, “Either she’ll do it on her own, or with our help.”

“You said you weren’t going to hurl a living creature into the portal!” exclaimed Ruby, looking hurt.

“I’m not,” confirmed Professor Fields. Then he sat on his haunches and shrugged. “But if somepony decides to hurl herself in, we can’t waste the opportunity.”

“She could be hurt,” Sundae objected to his atrocious logic.

“That is her choice,” Fields simply said.

Sundae looked torn. She didn’t want to see somepony be hurt, but, on the other hoof, she couldn’t stop it. She glanced at her friend and Ruby looked just as indecisive.

“I’m going,” Rose stated confidently. “Will you help me or not?”

“I think it’s a huge risk to take,” Sundae avoided a direct answer. “Doctor Shade was right: it wouldn’t have been left here if Starswirl had completed the portal.”

This seemed to sway the stubborn pegasus for a moment, but then she shook her head, banishing all the doubts.

“Help me or move,” Rose demanded, stomping her hoof loudly to emphasize the point.

“Fine…” Sundae gave up, getting tired of the arguing.

“What?!” Ruby jumped in front of her friend. “You can’t let her do that!”

“I don’t want it either, Ruby,” explained Sundae, making a step back, “But she looks really deter—”

“Doesn’t matter!” Ruby interrupted her. “We need to study it more before we can let somepony blindly jump into the mirror.”

“Ah, this is pointless!” exclaimed Rose suddenly and leaped in the air over both ponies to land before the mirror itself. Sundae looked at her helplessly with an open mouth.

“See you soon!” she gave the audience of shocked ponies a salute and jumped forward.

Everypony gasped. The seconds passed, but nothing happened. Sundae exchanged a fearful glance with Ruby. They both walked closer to stand before the artefact as did the rest of the group. All of them looked at it, expecting the pegasus to return at any second. But Rose wasn’t returning.

Part I - Chapter 3: The Revelation

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Chapter 3: The Revelation.

“We should do something…” Fields mumbled.

“What can we do?” Sundae snapped at him. “We don’t even know if she’s alive at that point!”

Fields sat on the floor and rubbed his temples. The pony probably felt partly responsible for encouraging Rose to jump. Sundae wanted to scream at him in anger, but it wouldn’t achieve anything, so she didn’t. Field’s assistant tried to reassure him, but he waved her off.

“This can’t be right,” Fields denied without much conviction. “She’ll be back at any second now.”

“It’s all my fault,” Ruby said all of a sudden. Sundae switched her attention to her friend in surprise. Ruby’s eyes were getting wet and she looked like she was about to cry. Sundae hugged her tightly in an attempt to calm her down.

“No, it’s not,” Sunny gently told her. Before she could say more, however, she felt a magical surge coming from the mirror. She felt each and every hair on her coat stand on end.

The others felt it too, because everypony suddenly tensed up and turn their gaze on the artefact. The mirror started to vibrate with a low hum. Even Ruby stopped her self-blaming and watched the portal with renewed hope.

“Perhaps, we’d better step back a little,” Sundae rushed back in a hurry. The others followed her example. The whole group had been standing by the door, when the mirror finally burst with sparks and somethingtumbled through onto the stone floor.

Sundae and Ruby were the first to approach the squirming thing. They gasped in horror when they saw something resembling a pony lying there in a twisted, crooked shape. The form was constantly surging and changing, as if it was trying to reassemble itself. A foreleg appeared on its back, then reshaped on the other side. Even though the pegasus looked nothing like her former self, Sunny was sure it was her.

“Sweet Celestia…” whispered somepony.

That shook Sundae out of her stupor. It wasn’t time for panic – it was time for action. She sharply turned around and ordered somepony to find Bright and bring him here. Fields and Breeze ran for it at once. Then Sundae cast her magic vision spell to see what was happening with Rose.

“What…” Ruby wanted to ask, but Sunny interrupted her with a sharp hoof gesture. She didn’t need a distraction right now.

Sunny’s horn glowed with magic, providing the unicorn with a disturbing picture. Instead of the harmonic flow of energy of a healthy pony, Rose’s was a complete mess. And it was changing itself without a pattern. Sundae wanted to help, but she had no idea what to do. Manipulating the energy flow on such a level was far beyond her ability. Hopefully, Bright would be able to do something…

The door opened and the pony in question galloped into the room, stopping before Rose’s body. On Bright’s usually indifferent face appeared a stunned expression. Even he wasn’t expecting to see something like this. But to give him his due, Bright quickly collected himself and immediately concentrated on saving the poor mare’s life.

The Doctor, however, wasn’t nearly as collected as his young protégé. He trotted in a few moments later and addressed everypony without skipping a beat:

“You’re darn idiots!”

Fields looked down in shame, having taken the insult close to heart. The rest of the group were just nervously glancing between the enraged Doctor and Bright, who was standing over Rose with a brightly lit horn. Ruby was just sitting on the floor, sobbing quietly.

“Get out of here!” Shade bellowed at the ponies.

They took off running, like a spooked bunny herd. The room became empty, except for Ruby, Bright, Sundae and Professor Fields. Fields decided to stay because he felt responsible for encouraging Rose to use the portal, just as Sundae did for failing to stop her.

The Doctor’s furious stare fell on both of them. She could almost physically feel his hostility towards her now. Sundae tried not to tremble from it.

“I expected better from you, Sundae,” the Doctor growled through his teeth. “And you, Fields, how did you let this happen?”

Fields chose to remain silent, having nothing to say in response. Sundae opened her mouth to say something in her defense, but couldn’t think of anything either. She had failed. If Rose didn’t make it, her death would be on Sundae’s hooves.

Then Sundae started to get mad. While she admitted her responsibility for what had happened, Shade didn’t have the moral high ground here. The Doctor had been talking about the importance of safety all morning but then he just let them freely explore the dangerous artefacts. And now he was trying to blame them for what had happened!

“Look!” Ruby suddenly exclaimed, just as Sundae was about to explode at the Doctor.

She looked to see that Rose, who had been embraced by a red magic aura, was slowly but steadily returning to her original shape. With sickening clicks and pops, her body reassembled itself. Bright’s horn stopped glowing and he sighed heavily, wiping the sweat off his forehead. He was barely standing on his hooves, but the result of his work was clearly visible.

“Good job, Morning Bright!” Shade praised him. The unicorn just nodded slightly in response.

Ruby jumped towards him and embraced him in a rib-crushing hug. She was out of herself with happiness. Bright stoically accepted it and even patted her on the back a few times.

“What the hay has happened to her?” Fields cocked his head at Rose, confusion and relief mixed on his face.

“A powerful transfiguration spell gone wrong,” explained Bright to the Professor, carefully getting out of Ruby’s grip, “I was able to fix it, of course, but I don’t know if there is any permanent damage.”

Sunny listened with fascination. She was a little envious of Bright’s ability to identify and fix such a complicated spell on his own. She promised herself to hit the books on the subject as soon as she returned from the expedition. At least, now it looked like Rose was recovering.

“We should get her to the camp and let her rest,” Fields suggested.

“Of course,” the Doctor agreed. “Ruby, carry her to her tent and see to her recovery.”

“Me?” Ruby was surprised. “Not that I’m refusing, of course…”

“I can help—” Sundae tried to offer, but was interrupted by the doctor’s intense stare.

“You’ve already ‘helped’ enough,” Shade frowned. Sundae’s tail wagged angrily from side to side and she felt her cheeks burning red. She was already feeling guilty without his constant jabs!

“Hey, you can’t blame her for what happened!” Ruby defended her friend, moving to stand closely by her side. “She tried to stop Rose. If anything, it’s my fault!”

Sundae was touched by seeing her friend try to take her blame. She gave her a nuzzle to show her gratitude, which Ruby returned. But while Sundae was thankful for the support, she wanted to set things straight.

“Don’t blame yourself, please,” Sundae shook her head sadly. “I’m supposed to be in charge when it comes to dealing with magical dangers.”

“You and Bright both,” added Fields, pointing his hoof accusingly at the white unicorn: “You knew the artefact was dangerous. What were you doing out there with Shade?”

“This is none of your concern, Professor,” answered the Doctor, annoyed, while Bright just stood there wearing a blank expression. “Besides, he told you it wasn’t working.”

“You, as you have pointed out just recently, are in charge here,” Fields looked at the Doctor. “You can’t blame us for your failings as a leader.”

Sundae silently agreed with him, but decided not to voice it out loud. She had already managed to get her emotions under control. There was no need to make the relationship with the Doctor any worse than it was. But, of course, there was no denying that Fields had a pretty good point.

Their leader’s desire to search the building alone – not counting his loyal supporter – was strange. He had claimed that he was concerned the ponies could be hurt by potential traps Starswirl allegedly set up, which was a ridiculous notion on its own, while completely ignoring the dangers of the artefact his own protégé declared as faulty and unstable. Sundae couldn’t help but wonder: what was he really up to?

“Let’s not waste time on arguments now,” she said instead. “Rose needs our help.”

“Of course, Sunny,” Ruby agreed with her friend.

They walked up to the pegasus, who had now returned to her natural form, and inspected her condition more thoroughly. Sunny gasped in surprise: Rose’s cutie mark of a red flower had vanished! Her flank was completely bare as if she was a little filly, who had yet to discover her talent.

“What’s wrong?” Fields asked, drooping his ears. He shifted anxiously, fearing the worst.

“Her cutie mark is gone,” Bright told them before Sunny could explain, “I noticed that as soon as I got here.”

“Losing one’s cutie mark is better than losing one’s life, I suppose,” Fields commented with a sigh of relief. Sundae shuddered inside – in her opinion losing your talent was the worst possible thing that could happen to a pony – but she kept a calm expression for the others.

“Perhaps,” Sunny simply said, “We’ll figure it out later.”

She levitated Rose off the ground and, grunting, heaved her onto Ruby’s back. Ruby took the weight easily. She was quite strong for her size. After all, being an earth pony had its advantages.

“Can you carry her to the camp?” Sundae asked the mare just in case.

“Sure I can,” Ruby reassured her.

With that issue settled, the ponies finally moved out of the chamber, leaving the accursed artefact behind them. The group walked through the dark corridor in silence. Their hoofsteps were the only sound disturbing the place.

Sundae was trotting behind Ruby, supporting the pegasus on her back with magic to keep her from falling off. She could also feel her breathing through the magic field, which meant Rose was still alive despite what she’d been through today.

The unicorn’s magical field was quite sensitive. Sundae was able to feel the object’s shape or even temperature in her grip. It was much easier for handling things with precision than a hoof or mouth.

Replaying the recent events in her mind, Sundae had decided that she couldn’t blame herself for what had happened. Or, at least, not only herself. Rose’s foolish act put her own life in danger. It was a very dumb move, in Sunny’s opinion.

She could only hope that Ruby would come to the same conclusion because her friend seemed like she was blaming herself too. Sundae made a note in her memory to bring up the issue as soon as they were alone.

***

The rest of the day wasn’t as exciting as its start, a fact which Sundae was grateful for at the moment. All the talk in the camp was obviously about the mirror. Even though everypony saw what had happened with their own eyes, they still managed to disagree on the interpretation of the story.

Somepony blamed Rose herself for her ordeal, while the others, like Fields, thought the Doctor shouldn’t have left them alone. Sundae found herself partly agreeing with both positions.

It was the evening already, but Rose still hadn’t woken up. Her cutie mark hadn’t returned either. Bright insisted that she was perfectly healthy physically and the group’s medic confirmed it. She even looked younger after her unfortunate experience.

Sundae was sitting by the bonfire, looking mindlessly into the dancing flames. Her friend was doing the same nearby. They had been with Rosy since she was brought to the tent, and were just relaxing now.

Sundae brought up her suspicions about the Doctor while they had been alone and Ruby agreed with them. When they had just started the expedition a month ago, Nightfall Shade was acting like a calm and rational leader. But the closer they were getting to Starswirl’s lab, the more relentless the Doctor was becoming.

The friends had come to a decision earlier – they were going to confront the Doctor about his true motives tomorrow in the morning. With Fields on their side, the rest of the group were going to support them, for sure.

Right now, Fields and his assistant were studying the rest of the small artefacts found in the portal’s chamber. The ponies had learned their lesson and were approaching each object with an utmost care and only after Bright had confirmed its safety. They didn’t want to end up like Rose.

“It’s getting late,” said Ruby. “We should get some sleep.”

“Yep,” Sundae nodded.

She suddenly remembered that she hadn’t set up her own tent yet. Last night they slept together in Ruby’s. There wasn’t much room inside and Sundae felt bad for her friend’s inconvenience. But she had fallen asleep before she was able to do something about that yesterday.

Sundae frowned, perplexed, as she thought about that. Ruby had been able to set up Sunny’s tent just fine yesterday. Why would her friend choose to bring her into her own? It was too small for two grown ponies, in Sundae’s opinion.

“I should set up my tent,” she said, grabbing her big saddlebags still lying on stone plates, where they had been left the evening before.

“Don’t bother,” a tiny smile appeared on Ruby’s face. “I’m totally fine with you staying in mine for one more night.”

“Really?” Sundae raised her eyebrows. “But it’s so small...I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“Ah, Sunny,” Ruby’s smile grew bigger, “I can’t possibly be uncomfortable. After all, you’re the most comfy pillow I’ve ever had!”

“Oh?” Sundae blushed heavily when she got what her friend was talking about. “Emm, thanks. For the offer, I mean. But there’s no need, I’ll…sleep alone today. Not that we slept together…Ah, you know what I mean…”

Ruby smirked at Sunny’s reaction to her little joke. She liked to tease her that way from time to time. Then she observed Sundae levitating the tent’s frame out of the bag and quickly assembling it. Must be nice to use magic instead of your own hooves and mouth, thought Ruby at the display. As soon as it was done, Sundae crawled inside, wishing her friend goodnight.

Ruby sighed, watching her posterior vanishing behind the curtain. The tent really was small for two ponies, reflected Ruby, although she wouldn’t mind spending one more night with that pony inside. In fact, the lack of space was an advantage. She let out another sigh, regretting a wasted opportunity, and went to sleep alone.

***

The sun had already set a few hours ago, but Sundae was still awake. She was turning from side to side, hoping to get comfortable enough to fall asleep, but to no avail. Disturbing thoughts invaded her head. Right now, she was worried about Rose. The mare hadn’t woken up yet. Hopefully, she would in the morning.

Sundae also kept thinking about the mirror-portal and what they should do with it. Obviously, it was too dangerous to use, but it was working to some extent. Rose proved it with her crazy dash through it and relatively successful return. Successful, if you don’t count her transformation gone bad.

The mirror should be brought to Canterlot for a more serious study, decided Sundae. The College had ponies and resources for it. She or even Bright weren’t qualified enough to do it here in the wilderness…

Her ears picked up a sound. They swiveled automatically to a source outside the tent – it was the sound of hoofsteps. Actually, she distinguished the hoofsteps of two ponies walking together. What were they doing being up at that time? Sundae felt the need to check it out.

She carefully moved the curtain and peeked outside. A bright moonlight was illuminating the yard. In it, she clearly recognized the two ponies walking towards the building. They were none other than Doctor Shade and Bright.

Sundae decided to follow them and try to eavesdrop on them. It was the perfect opportunity to learn more about what they were up to. She waited a little until the ponies vanished from her view and then went outside. The night’s air was chilly, but Sundae dismissed the idea of wearing a cape. It would only get in the way once she was inside the building.

She started to move carefully, trying to make as little sound as possible, but it was difficult with her horseshoes clopping on the stone plates. Once she had reached the stairs to the entrance, Sundae looked back.

The camp was quiet. As a rule, somepony would keep watch so that they could raise the alarm in case of trouble, but she didn’t see anyone. Usually, it was either Soft Breeze or his colleague, who were brought in with the expedition for that kind of thing. If it was Soft Breeze’s turn, he was probably observing from the clouds.

Sundae looked up, but the sky was clear. The moon, with a dark silhouette of a unicorn’s head on it, was its only feature. Sunny had studied history, so she knew it wasn’t actually a unicorn, but an alicorn, just like Celestia herself. She was known to ponydom as Nightmare Moon.

But now was not the time to think about some old mare’s tales. She had more pressing matters to attend to, like figuring out what their leader was up to. So the pony tore her gaze away from the moon and ascended the stairs of the building.

Once Sundae got inside, she could barely see past her snout. The light from the outside didn’t reach past the first few meters from the entrance, but she was reluctant to use an illumination spell. It would definitely catch the attention of the ponies she was trying to spy on.

She couldn’t see them anywhere now, but she didn’t want to risk it anyway. Taking one small step after the other, Sundae was slowly moving forward. Those damn horseshoes were clicking awfully loudly on the stone in the empty corridor. She stopped to quickly remove them and leave them by the wall. Without them, Sundae would have a much easier time keeping quiet. In hindsight, it would have been better to take the horseshoes off before coming here in the first place.

The pony stood still for a few moments, swiveling her ears back and forth, trying to hear anything. She thought she had heard some muffled voices up ahead.

Since there was no one here, she lit up her horn very dimly. Its light barely allowed her to see the wall’s outlines. Sundae crept forward until she got to the end of the corridor.

There was a room with some doors and a stairwell. All of them were closed, but the ponies she was looking for could be behind any of them. Or they could be down below - Sundae deduced that after hearing a strange, loud sound from the stairs’ direction. It reminded her of a giant bubble being burst. She wondered about its origin.

The only way to find out was to go and see for herself. Sundae walked down the stairs to find herself in yet another corridor. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the ponies ahead. The Doctor was here! She turned off the glow from her horn and dashed behind a wall.

Sunny carefully looked out from it – no one had seen her, thankfully. The Doctor and Bright were standing just a dozen meters from her in a large chamber. The unicorn’s horn was glowing brightly, so she could easily see everything. The chamber was full of bookshelves and tables with some stuff on it. Sundae couldn’t distinguish them from a distance.

It was the lab, she realized. They had found it! Sundae would be bouncing up and down in happiness if she weren’t hiding from the Doctor. Why didn’t he tell anypony that he had found the lab? She didn’t want to jump to conclusions, but his actions were pretty suspicious.

Sundae refused to believe it yet, despite the circumstances. The Doctor Shade she knew at the College would never stoop down to the level of some kind of artefact smuggler. Sundae still thought of him as a good pony, even though he treated her poorly. For all she knew, they had just found the lab and hadn’t had the time to reveal it yet.

Sundae pulled back and tried to remember one useful spell she had learned a long time ago. The spell would allow her to hear everything the Doctor and Bright were discussing in the room. “Enhanced Hearing Spell” it was called in the book, if she remembered correctly. Sundae cast it on herself and waited to see if it works.

“–notes should be here,” Shade’s voice right in her ear almost made her yelp in fright. But he wasn’t here, of course. The spell was working as intended, it seems. Sundae calmed down and kept listening.

“I agree. If they do exist, it’s the only place he would have left them,” Morning Bright said. There was a rustling sound and everything went quiet for a minute.

“Look at this shelf,” Bright said. “It’s full of written scrolls. They’re in old Ponish. I can’t read it.”

“Wonderful!” the Doctor’s voice sounded excited. “I hope it’s what we’re looking for.”

Sundae heard a number of hoofsteps. The Doctor probably went to check out the scrolls.

“It says something about Tartarus!” he exclaimed suddenly. Sundae had never heard him sound so elated before. “I think this is definitely it, though I need some time to translate it properly, but just looking at the text I can already see that I was right. Starswirl created Tartarus!”

Sundae listened to all of this with her mouth agape. Starswirl was the one who created Tartarus, the most ancient and secure prison in Equestria? It seemed unbelievable at first glance. On the other hoof, if somepony were to do such a thing, Starswirl would have the skill to pull it off…

If Doctor Shade’s goal was to discover some knowledge about Tartarus, it’s no wonder he preferred to do this in secret. Any information about the prison had been declared a state secret by Celestia’s decree a few centuries ago. Most ponies even denied its existence, considering it to be just a myth. But Sundae had found out the truth when she tried to study that “myth” herself in her early college years. If the Doctor was planning to keep his discovery a secret, he would be considered a criminal.

“I should start the translation–,” Shade was interrupted mid-sentence. Sundae wondered briefly about the reason, but was startled when her magic abruptly stopped. It felt like she had gone deaf.

Suspecting that she’d been discovered somehow, Sundae rose sharply and rushed up the stairs. She was halfway there when some force suddenly threw her backwards. She landed roughly on her back with a squeak, hitting her head on the hard stone. The pony tried to turn over but the same force lifted her up into the air and kept her floating upside down.

“What are you doing here, Sundae?” Morning Bright appeared in her view. His horn was glowing in the same red aura that was holding her.

Sundae couldn’t really answer right now and all she managed was a painful moan. She felt really dizzy from the hit. Hopefully, it wasn’t a concussion.

“Sundae!” the enraged doctor jumped at her in fury. “Just when I’d finally had a moment of triumph, you’ve managed to ruin it!”

“She’s probably heard everything,” Bright noticed calmly. “We can’t just let her get away.”

Sundae’s mind cleared fast after hearing thoseominous words. She stared at him in shock. Of course, trying to hide the important information about Tartarus was illegal, but Sundae was sure that whatever Bright had been suggesting was even more so!

“You’re right,” Shade nodded, calming down a little. “She knows everything now and I just cannot allow it.”

“What are you planning to do?” Sundae asked in a trembling voice, feeling a real fear starting to grow inside her. Whatever these two were up to, it wasn’t good.

“Shut up, I’m thinking…” Shade flicked her horn with a hoof, which sent an unpleasant tingling sensation through Sunny’s head. Even Bright frowned at that rude display.

The Doctor thought for a few seconds and seemingly came to a decision. His mouth formed a menacing grin. Sundae felt her hooves go cold just from looking at it. Or perhaps, it was because she was still upside down.

“Can you do that memory wipe spell?” he addressed Bright.

“It is pretty advanced,” Bright answered, slightly surprised, “But I’m sure that I can repeat it if that’s what you want.”

“It is,” the Doctor confirmed. “Let’s bring her upstairs, into the room with that messed-up portal.”

Sundae head was spinning and not from just an injury. She was terrified at what was about to happen. The pony didn’t expect things to become so serious. The Doctor had been acting strangely lately, but Sundae couldn’t imagine him actually hurting somepony on purpose!

She should try something. Escape back to the camp somehow and warn the others. Sundae still had her magic and it was her only chance. She prepared an attack spell in her head to use as soon as they got upstairs.

But as it turned out, Bright was ready for something like that. Sundae’s magical blast was easily deflected by his shield and hit a wall instead, leaving a tiny burn mark.

“Your tricks won’t help you,” Bright warned her and levitated her to the portal’s chamber.

The mirror was standing on the same spot as before. Nopony had dared to move it after the earlier events. Sundae looked at it, trembling; the realization of what was happening suddenly hitting her.

“You’re not going to throw me into that thing, are you?” she asked the two ponies.

“That’s exactly right,” Shade confirmed her guess. “But unlike that dumb pegasus, you will not return.”

“Why would you do that to me?” Sundae felt tears well up in her eyes.

“You should have joined me when you had the chance, Sundae,” Shade sighed. “You had potential.”

“You’re doing it because I refused to be your protégé?”

“Don’t play me for a fool, Sundae,” the Doctor stomped his hoof in anger. “You’ve heard everything!”

“I’ve heard nothing!” cried Sundae.

Shade ignored her desperate plea. He looked at Bright and gave him a nod.

“Do it.”

“As you wish.”

The unicorn closed his eyes to concentrate and cast the spell. Sundae felt like something punched her head from the inside. A few moments of extreme pain and it was done. Her fear was completely gone. She wondered why she had been afraid at all.

“Now toss her through it and destroy the mirror,” a voice ordered.

She didn’t recognize it. The pony opened her eyes to look at the voice’s owner, but instead she saw some old mirror which she was about to collide with. The last thing she remembered is that the mirror had no reflection.

Part II - Chapter 4: The Change

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Part II

Chapter 4: The Change

6 years later.
I stepped into a grocery store where I had been working. Today was my four-month anniversary of getting this job. So much for what was supposed to be a temporary thing until I found something better. The payment here wasn’t the best in town, obviously, but it was a way to get by.

Despite everything, I haven’t regretted my decision to move out of my foster family’s house to live independently. Even though my family was very nice, they were too overbearing for my taste. They didn’t approve of my decision, but they accepted it in the end. My stepmom called me once every few days to catch up on things. We enjoyed having a pleasant conversation with each other.

I had never known my real parents. I mean, I probably did before, but I had trouble remembering my life before an accident that happened six years ago. I was wandering alone in the wilderness for a few days before some people found me. That was the first thing I remember. The doctors assured me my previous memories would return eventually, but they didn’t. No relatives were found, so I was sent to an orphanage and adopted a while later.

As of now, I was legally considered an adult. Obviously, my real age was unknown, so they wrote me down as a 14-year old when they had found me, based just on my appearance. They were close enough, I suppose.

“Morning, Annie,” a young, tall guy greeted me as soon as I entered the store.

His name was Marcus. He was dressed casually, the same way as always. Some simple jeans and a blank white t-shirt. I liked his style. He wasn’t in any way like all those guys I knew before. We were working in the same shift together and had become friends in these four long months.

It was still early. Morning shifts were the worst. I wasn’t a morning person at all – I could barely hold my eyes open. Marcus was my complete opposite in that matter.

The store was still officially closed. We should get ready for the opening in half an hour. That was plenty of time for us to do the routine a few times over, but I had slept pretty badly last night. There was no point in sitting around at home, so I decided to go to work earlier than usual.

“Hi, Marcus,” I said, yawning.

He checked the time on his watch – yes, he was still using a wristwatch in this century – and asked:

“What brings you here at such an hour?”

“I couldn’t sleep,” I answered curtly.

Marcus nodded, accepting this explanation. It was the truth, after all. The same strange nightmare had been haunting me each night lately. Something about the mirror. I would often wake up in the middle of the night, screaming. I couldn’t remember it in detail for some reason and it frustrated me to no end.

He probably noticed the expression on my face, because he looked at me slightly concerned. I didn’t want to bother him with my small problems, so I just smiled unconcernedly and walked past him to the locker room to dress up in my work clothes.

***

The day had passed without any meaningful events. I was working at the cash register, watching dozens of people glimpse past me. I had to smile for each one of them, even though I wasn’t in the mood for it. To be honest, I was never in the mood to do that because I disliked big crowds.

Gladly, it was over for the day. Marcus turned the sign on the door to Closed for dinner and I let out a sigh of relief. It was about time: I was as hungry as a horse. I quickly changed into my regular clothes in the locker room, found my purse and prepared to go. I was already looking forward to taking a hot, relaxing shower in my rented apartment and then cooking something up for dinner.

“Annie, wait a sec,” Marcus stopped me by the entrance. I turned around to see him standing there with a tentative expression on his face.

“Yes?” I was slightly annoyed at him for interrupting my thoughts, but I tried to hide it from my voice. I didn’t want to be rude to my friend.

“Wanna hang out?” he blurted out.

I raised my eyebrows unwittingly. His offer just took me off-guard. We were friends at work, but he never showed any sign that he wanted to spend time with me outside of the store. There is a first time for everything, I guess.

I thought about what to answer for a few seconds. On the one hand, I was pretty tired after work and just wanted to spend time alone, surfing the internet or reading books. But on the other hand, I liked Marcus. I decided to seize this opportunity to take my relationship with him to the next level.

“Sure, why not,” I shrugged in a detached way, while waving a mental goodbye to my dreams of a hot shower.

I was a woman of habit, so I didn’t really want to change my daily routine, but Marcus had always been nice to me. There was no reason for me not to spend some more time with him if he asked me to. Besides, I wanted that too.

“What do you have in mind?” I inquired curiously.

“Well, I know some good place nearby, we can go there,” Marcus offered.

“Sounds good to me.”

With that settled, I waited with him for the next shift. He was quiet, so I just played some apps on my phone. I didn’t have to play for long. Two girls who worked the second shift today arrived shortly after I started.

They came to work together. I didn’t really know them. In fact, I couldn’t even recall their names. I was that bad at social interactions. “Hi” and “bye” were our most used words between each other. We just exchanged greetings and they took over the store for us.

Me and Marcus finally got out. It was the middle of the summer outside and the weather was pretty hot. I was dressed lightly in a blue shirt and shorts. Like Marcus, I wasn’t a fan of fancy clothing.

Our town was small. I hated living in a big city and my parents had a big house in London. The crowds on the streets, giant malls, traffic jams with angry people – it drove me nuts. That was one more reason for moving out for me.

Marcus had been walking in a silence for a while now to the point where it got a little weird. He was much more talkative at work. I was waiting for him to say something and I realized that Marcus was probably doing the same. I glanced at him – he was staring straight ahead with a serious expression on his face, looking too tense.

“So…” I broke the silence, “How far is the place?”

“Just around the corner,” the guy answered curtly.

And he was right. Just as we turned at an intersection, I saw the place he was talking about. At least, I guessed it was the place, since there was nothing else but some residential buildings around.

It wasn’t some fancy restaurant – we couldn’t afford those places. This was just a small café. Stefan’s Café was what the place was called, according to the sign on the top. I had never heard of it before, but I spent most of my time indoors, so that was nothing unusual. Just recently, I found a small bookstore just a few streets away from my home.

“We’re here,” Marcus simply announced.

It was pretty obvious that we had arrived and I had a burning desire to say something sarcastic in answer, but decided to go with a simple nod instead. I didn’t want to start the evening off on the wrong foot, even though I was annoyed by his silence. I knew he was nervous, just like me.

Marcus held open the door for me like an old-fashioned gentleman and I went inside. He walked behind me and stopped by my side. Such manners, along with his simplistic appearance, is what made him so attractive in my eyes.

Inside the café, it looked exactly as I was expecting. A big counter, a row of old tables and a girl, taking orders from clients. There were fewer than a dozen of them spread out all over the café.

We chose a lone table by the window at the corner. It felt cozy there. I took a menu to look at the list of foods available. Just as I had opened it, the waitress walked up to us to take our orders. I gave her an annoyed look.

She was too early, since I hadn’t had any time to decide yet, but Marcus apparently was a regular customer here. He ordered for the two of us and even offered to pay for the treat. I graciously accepted. After all, if someone was paying for my food, why would I reject it?

After the girl left, the silence hung over us again. I watched out of a window meditatively. It was a nice view of the street from here. There weren’t a lot of cars on the road. In a similar place in London, I would see an endless flow of cars, but here it was much different. I had counted five of them within a minute until Marcus finally deigned to say something:

“So, Anne, how was your day?”

I looked at him in mild surprise. We had been working at the store together since morning and he was asking something like that? But I quickly understood that it was probably his way to start a conversation, so I went along with it.

“It was pretty exhausting,” I said with a slight shrug and smiled warmly, “It was nice of you to invite me here.”

“Uh, thanks,” Marcus said, rubbing his neck, “I’ve been wanting to do that for a while actually…”

“Uhm,” I let out a noncommittal sound in answer, waiting for him to continue.

After that, our order had arrived, stopping him from saying anything more. The girl brought us tacos. I’ve always liked tacos and Marcus knew it. He claimed these were the best in town and I couldn’t wait to find out for myself. I watched him grab one from his plate and quickly finish it in a few big bites.

“That was good,” He nodded happily, “That’s why I love this place. Just try it.”

There was no reason not to, but I suddenly felt a strange reluctance. It was the smell that killed my enthusiasm. These just smelled different from the usual tacos I’d had before, in a bad way. I slowly took a small bite from one of the tacos and almost spit it out. It was disgusting!

“Do these tacos taste funny to you?” I asked Marcus with a frown.

“No,” he said, raising his eyebrows in surprise, “They taste as great as usual.”

“Hmm,” I put the taco back, trying hard not to frown any more.

“You don’t like it?” Marcus asked with disappointment.

I briefly considered whether I should tell the truth or make up some white lie. I chose the former. I always thought it was important to tell the truth, even if it was unpleasant.

“Sorry, but no…”

“That’s too bad,” the guy shrugged, trying to appear uncaring. But I saw a worry on his face. “You can still order something else. I’ll pay.”

“That would be nice,” I nodded, cheering him up a bit. I refused to let some bad food ruin our first date together.

With a wave of his hand, Marcus called the waitress to our table while I was studying the menu. The caesar salad sounded delicious and it wasn’t expensive. Even though Marcus offered to pay, I didn’t want to abuse my friend’s generosity.

We talked a little while waiting for the new order. Marcus had started to loosen up a bit, becoming more like his usual self. I don’t know what had gotten into him in the first place – perhaps he was just nervous because it was a date, not just our usual talk at work.

I didn’t know how many dates he’d had before, but it was my first one. I had no time for such things in London. Most of my time was spent catching up on the school program.

When my salad arrived, I dug into it with ardor. Usually I’m not a big fan of salads, but this one was amazing. Ingredients were mixed with each other just perfectly, creating a divine symphony of flavor. I simply lost myself. Glancing at Marcus, I noticed that he was looking at me funny.

“What?” I asked in concern.

“There is a fork, you know,” he pointed at the object, lying on the table unused.

I suddenly realized that I was eating the salad with just my mouth, like some kind of dog. I quickly looked around making sure no one saw me except for Markus. I forced a sheepish smile, feeling my cheeks burn red in embarrassment.

“Uhh, thanks. I’m just really hungry, I guess,” I came up with a lame excuse.

I took the fork and quickly finished my salad, ignoring how tasty it was. Marcus appeared relaxed now. Maybe he thought it was some kind of joke from me, but the truth is – it wasn’t. I don’t know why I did it. It just happened automatically, like by some weird instinct. I tried to shrug those thoughts off.

We just sat there and talked for a while after that incident. Marcus shared a few fun stories from his school days that made me genuinely laugh. I wished to return the favor, but sadly I had no funny stories to tell, not that I remember of.

“It’s getting late,” Marcus said, glancing at his watch. “Can I walk you home?”

I agreed with his offer. My home wasn’t far, but it would be pretty boring to go alone. Plus, it would be a good opportunity to show Marcus where I lived. In all those months of us working together he still hadn’t learned it.

Marcus paid for the food, as he promised, and we left the place. We spent more than an hour there and it was mostly fun, despite a few hiccups at the start. We should do that again soon.

***

We arrived at my apartment’s building pretty quickly. It was just your usual residential building a few stores high, just like dozens of others in our small town. It was in a good condition, despite being a few decades old. I was renting an apartment there on the second floor.

Spending the evening with Marcus was great and I didn’t want it to end, but it was time. We exchanged our goodbyes and I walked inside alone. I stood at the doorframe for a while, watching Marcus’ back in doubt. Perhaps I could call for him and invite him to the apartment. We could watch a movie together…I closed the door with a sigh, rejecting the idea. I didn’t want to appear needy in his eyes.

Getting up on the second floor was harder than usual. Each step up the squeaky stairs was painful. My back was hurting from too much standing at the store today. I tumbled inside of my small apartment and dropped on the couch like a sack of potatoes.

I lay there for a while, thinking about my first date ever. It wasn’t perfect, but it was far from bad. I got to know Marcus a little better, which was the whole purpose.

I planned to take a shower as soon as I got home, but I wasn’t in the mood for it right now. I was deciding between watching something on TV or just browsing the internet. In the end, I chose a book that I had bought it recently and hadn’t been able to read yet. Looks like now was the perfect time.

I reluctantly got up and went to get it. The book was lying on the high shelf. I had no idea why I put it there. I tried to reach it, but a sharp pain in my back almost made me fall. At this point, my back was starting to worry me. If that continued tomorrow, I would visit a doctor.

Grabbing a chair from the kitchen, I carefully climbed on it and finally grabbed the book. It was a fictional story that promised to be interesting, judging by the annotation. A cool shooting spaceship was drawn on its cover. I looked forward to the exciting evening.

I stepped down from the chair and sat back on the couch. I felt awfully tired for some reason. I couldn’t even open my book, in fact. My fingers just felt too clumsy. I tried to crack them, when I noticed something weird.

I gaped at my palms in growing terror. My fingers weren’t just clumsy, they were gone! My old fingers somehow fused with each other, forming a new big one. They also turned kind of yellow. What the hell!

I jumped at my feet with a yelp, almost losing my balance, and sprinted to the bathroom, blasting the door open. Turning on the cold water, I shoved my face into the cold stream. It was refreshing.

Then I slapped myself a few times, to make sure it wasn’t some kind of lucid dream. I checked my palms again – it wasn’t. But what had happened to my fingers then?

I calmed down and considered the situation. The most likely explanation was that I got sick. Though I had never heard of such a disease before; I wasn’t a doctor. There were things outside of my knowledge and this definitely was one of them. What I needed right now was a real doctor.

My phone was still in my purse that I had thrown on the couch. I rushed back into the room. Clumsily grabbing the purse with both hands, I turned it over, emptying it all over the floor.

There it is! Instead of trying to pick it up, I just lay down and pushed a button, bringing the phone to life. A wallpaper of chamomiles in a green field showed up on its screen. I quickly dialed the emergency number “999” and waited for an answer.

I didn’t need to wait long. Soon, a calm woman’s voice asked me the reason for my call. I suddenly realized that in my panic I hadn’t thought about what I was going to say.

“Eh…My fingers…” I stopped on that.

“What about them, ma’am?”

“My fingers…kind of grew…together…” that was all I could say. It sounded insane even to me after I said it out loud, but I wasn’t able to describe the situation better at the moment.

“Ma’am? Have you been taking any kind of drugs?” the voice asked in slight concern.

“Eh, no! Sorry to bother you!” I ended the call right there.

I hated explaining things on a good day, but now I was on the verge of panic. At best, they were going to think I was high and send the police over, and at worst, they would think this is some kind of joke and do nothing at all!

I dialed another number – the number of Marcus. He couldn’t have gotten far yet and he would know what to do, I hoped. He always fixed the problems at the store.

“Hello, Annie,” answered Marcus after a few dials.

“Hey,” I tried to speak calmly, but my voice was trembling a little, “I don’t feel so good…Can you get over here, please?”

“I’m on my way,” Marcus simply said and hung up.

He was banging on the door to my apartment ten minutes later. I was still lying on the floor, trying not to think about anything. The noise brought me back to the real world. I stood up, cringing from a pain in my back, and limped to let Marcus in.

“Holy shit!” he exclaimed as soon as I opened up.

He lifted me off the floor and carried me to the couch. He lowered me down gently. I let out a sigh of relief – my back was feeling much better when I wasn’t standing. Marcus looked me up and down and then asked:

“What the hell happened to you?”

“I don’t know…” I shook my head in misery, “I was reading a book, when I saw this.”

I showed my palms to him. Marcus jerked back in surprise when he saw what happened to my fingers. Why was he surprised? I thought he had seen it already at the door, judging by his reaction. Unless…

“What did you think was wrong?” I narrowed my eyes.

“Annie, you’ve turned yellow, for god’s sake!”

“What?!” It was my turn to be surprised.

“I thought that’s why you had called me,” explained Marcus.

“No…I don’t know what is happening!”

“You need to call “999”, Annie,” he said and reached for my phone on the floor.

“I already did…” I trailed off, feeling embarrassed by my outburst.

“And?” Marcus raised his eyebrows questioningly.

“I didn’t know how to explain this and then she started asking about drugs…” I said with tears on my eyes.

Marcus loudly swore out of the blue. I hadn’t heard a swear word from him for months. I cringed – I never liked swearing myself.He tried to avoid it in my company, for which I was grateful. Even my ears twitched in disgust hearing this.

The last thought caught my attention. Twitching ears? It couldn’t be, but I needed to be sure. I jumped off the couch and rushed to the bathroom once more, ignoring my back pain. Looking at the mirror, I felt my heart sinking.

Two pointed yellow ears were clearly visible through my hair. I slowly touched one with the remnant of my palm. It twitched again and I felt the movement like it was my own. Because it was my own!

I saw Marcus’ face behind me. He stood at the door frame, looking just as dumbfounded as I was feeling right now. It would be impossible to believe if I’d not been seeing it myself.

I turned my eyes back to the mirror. The shape of the ears wasn’t the only change I noticed. Marcus was right – my face had turned completely yellow. I leaned in closer to examine it and recoiled from the mirror like it was poisoned. It wasn’t my skin that had changed color. My whole face was covered in tiny, yellow fur.

I barely suppressed the desire to grab a razor and shave it off. Thinking logically, the hair was a symptom of an unknown disease that I had caught, not the cause. For all I know, shaving it off would only worsen my situation.

Marcus helped me to get back on the couch. I just sat there staring at the wall and pondered my problem. My friend was quiet too. He was watching me with a worried expression.

“I shouldn’t have brought you to that taco place…” Marcus shook his head ruefully.

It just sounded so absurd that I laughed out loud. I tried to suppress it, but I was helpless. My laughing kept going and going for well over a minute and still couldn’t stop. The poor guy probably thought I was suffering from some kind of seizure, because he grabbed my shoulders in panic and gave me a face slap.

“Hey!” I rubbed my cheek, feeling offended.

“Oh, sorry,” Marcus said, looking down in embarrassment, “I thought…Just sorry.”

“Okay,” I decided to overlook his hasty action, although my cheek stung from the slap. I kind of needed that anyway. “Do you really think that tacos could do this to me?”

I wiggled my fingerless palms before his wide-open eyes. My nail had grown thicker and it had gotten noticeably bigger overall. I wasn’t sure anymore that I could even call it a palm. It looked more like a stump. The whole arm was covered in yellow fur now.

The rate of the changes was alarming. I was looking at Marcus, hoping for him to come up with some bright idea to turn the situation around. But he just stared at my arm, perplexed.

At this point, my mind had already discarded the theory that this was a disease. I was pretty sure that if there was a malady that could change people in a matter of hours, I would have heard of it before. Even though my medical knowledge was limited at best, I knew one thing: this here was impossible.

The only possibility that my brain could come up with, after reading endless sci-fi and fantasy books, was either some kind of advanced experiment or the result of magic. Both of these were unlikely, but the situation I was in was equally unlikely.

“I’m going to call an ambulance again,” I said unsurely.

He waved his arm, rejecting my idea.

“Don’t bother,” he said calmly. “I don’t think they’re going to believe you now.”

“Well, maybe you’re right,” I nodded in disappointment. “I would take it for a joke myself. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

Marcus sat on the couch beside me and put an arm over my shoulders. I appreciated the gesture. It calmed me down a little bit. I even tried to look on the bright side of my situation.

One good thing about it was that – physically – I felt completely fine. Well, relatively speaking. I wasn’t in any pain except for my back, but that was only while standing. In a sitting position, my back was feeling great.

But mentally, it was much more complicated. I didn’t know what to think and what I should do next. The most reasonable thing to do was to call for an ambulance, but no one would believe my wild claims. Although…

A thought suddenly came to my head. It was illegal, I suppose, but it was my only option, unless I went to a hospital on foot. I was barely able to walk around in my own apartment; it would be difficult for me to reach the place.

But what if we were to lie about the reason for calling? An ambulance would arrive and witness my situation with their own eyes. They would have no choice but to take me in when they saw my condition. I shared it at once with Marcus. It was a great idea!

“I don’t know about that,” Marcus wasn’t so enthusiastic.

“Why not?” I said, feeling my ears droop of their own accord. It was a creepy feeling.

“It just seems like a waste of time to me,” he explained. “I don’t think a doctor would be able to help you. This is not something you would cure with a pill.”

“What should we do then?!” I snapped at him.

Marcus just shrugged. Clearly, he didn’t have a better suggestion. But then he frowned, looking at me strangely. My ears folded again. I guess they reflected my reaction at the way he was looking at me. I felt uneasy, fearing the new changes that he was probably seeing.

“Can you repeat that again?” Marcus asked.

“Repeat what?”

“Yes, I can hear it clearly,” he said. “Your voice has apparently changed too. You sound like a completely different girl.”

“A different girl?” I repeated in confusion. I hadn’t noticed anything different in my voice.

“Yes,” he confirmed confidently. “You were sounding totally different just minutes ago. Can’t you hear it yourself?”

“Eh, no.” I really couldn’t. My voice sounded just as usual, at least to my ears. Although, maybe it had become a little smoother and higher…

But on top of all the other changes, this one wasn’t so hard to believe in. There were people that could change their voice with enough training, so at least this one was possible.

“Whatever,” I shrugged. “The voice is the least of my problems right now.”

Suddenly, some music started playing. I realized it was the ringtone on my phone. I glanced around and saw it still lying on the floor. Marcus quickly snatched the phone and passed it to me. I thanked him with a grateful nod.

I looked at the screen, nervous. It was my mum calling for our usual evening talk. She couldn’t have picked a worse time. I had no desire to talk with her right now. I considered not answering the call for a moment, but it wouldn’t help.

The thing was – my mum was a worrywart. She was always making a big problem out of any small ailment I got. If I didn’t answer the phone call, she would probably just get into her car and drive all the way from London to see what was wrong. It actually happened once when I had just rented the apartment and had missed a few of her calls.

So I answered, having forgotten all about my new voice for a moment. It was a dumb thing to do in retrospect.

“Hello, dear,” my mum’s cheerful voice spoke. “It took you a while to pick up.”

“Hello, mum,” I said, trying to sound just as cheerful as her.

“What…Who is it?” the voice tone quickly changed to concerned.

“Uhm, it’s me, Anne,” my face went pale when I remembered that my voice sounded different now. Marcus also noticed my mistake, judging by his expressive facepalm. Apparently, even my own mother couldn’t recognize me now. Technically, step-mother, but my point still stands.

“Where did you get this phone, lady?” Mum asked sternly.

“It’s me, mum!” I tried to convince her. “I just sound a little different, that’s all.”

“Do you take me for a fool, lady?” Mum became angry. “Where is my daughter?”

She was as stubborn as a mule. There was no way I could convince her otherwise now. I frantically tried to think of something to tell her that would calm her down.

“I’m Anne’s friend,” I played along with her. “She’s…in the shower right now.”

“Friend? What’s your name?”

“Hmm…Amy,” I said the first name I could think of.

“She never told me of a friend called Amy,” Mum became suspicious again. “Is there something wrong with my daughter?”

“No, no, everything’s fine!” I exclaimed in despair. It didn’t help.

“You’ve done something with my daughter! I’m calling the police,” she said and ended the call.

I looked at Marcus, shocked. My mum was really crazy when it came to my safety, but this conversation went worse than I could possibly have imagined. I wasn’t sure what to do now. If my own mother hadn’t recognized me, the police wouldn’t either. And my freaky appearance would only complicate matters.

“You shouldn’t have answered that call…” Marcus shook his head in disapproval. “I literally just told you that your voice had changed. What were you thinking?”

“I wasn’t, okay? I forgot,” I punched a pillow a few times in exasperation.

“That’s fine. We just wait and explain the misunderstanding to the police.”

“Are you kidding me?” I stared at his calm face in disbelief. “They would think I’m some kind of mutant and arrest me!”

“This is not a movie, Anne,” Marcus reasoned. “They are going to take you to a hospital. Everything will be fine.”

“You don’t know my mum,” I said. “She’s overprotective! She’s going to tell the police I’m a hostage and when they find me here, looking like this…I don’t know what they would think. But it would be nothing good, believe me.”

“Well, we can go to my place and think the situation through,” offered Marcus. “But I still think it’s better to stay here and wait.”

I grabbed at his idea like a drowning person would a life ring. It was perfect! I had no desire to see the police in my condition. They would only waste valuable time. All I wanted to do was to figure out what was wrong with me. Maybe it would just go away in a few days like a bad rash and then I would explain to my mother what had really happened. Hopefully, she would believe me then.

“Help me up, Marcus,” I said determinedly. “We’re going to your place.”

“Okay,” he sighed, taking me under my arms, “But maybe you should just call your mother back?”

“Can’t you hear it?” I rolled my eyes in irritation. “My voice is different now. I won’t be able to convince her, at least not over the phone.”

“Isn’t there anything only you would know?” asked Marcus. “You’d say that to her and she’d know it’s really you.”

“She won’t believe me now,” I dismissed his idea regretfully after thinking it over for a few seconds. “My mum always assumes the worst. She’d probably think I tortured her daughter for that information or something.”

“Damn, that’s rough,” Marcus appeared impressed. “I understand now why you moved out.”

“Yeah. I love her, but…” I shrugged. “Anyway, let’s hurry.”

I knew that Marcus lived pretty far from here. It would be a tough journey, but there was no other way. My friend’s plan to just wait here and explain everything to the police was unacceptable. Maybe it would work out in the end, but it was too much of a risk.

I glanced at the window. It was already past 7 pm, but the sun was still up. People would see me, so I needed to look normal if I wanted to venture outside. There was a hoodie in my room somewhere. I’d just put it on. Of course, I would look like some junkie with a hood on, but it’s better than gallivanting on the street with my yellow face and pointy ears.

I had Marcus find the hoodie for me while I was having trouble keeping my balance by the door. It was hard to stand up straight. The back pain wasn’t the only reason now. My legs felt weird too. I glanced down briefly to see what was wrong.

My ankles had left their rightful place. They were not under my knee, as they were supposed to be, but somehow behind it. It reminded me of a hind leg of a dog or cat. An image of a mythical minotaur came to my mind. I stopped these thoughts through the force of will. There was no time for them right now.

Marcus finally returned to me with a hoodie in his arms. He helped me to put this on fast. I thought for a few seconds, trying to think if I forgot something. My phone, documents and money were safely lying in my purse. Everything seemed to be in order. It was time to go.

Part II - Chapter 5: The Strange Tail

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Chapter 5: The Strange Tail

It was awfully hard to get down the stairs after my recent leg changes. I would definitely have tripped and fallen down twice already if not for Marcus’ help. I was panting heavily when we finally got outside.

The street wasn’t crowded, but some people who passed us by gave me weird looks despite my hood and long sleeves hiding most of my changes. I couldn’t hide my yellow face, so I tried to keep my head down.

Descending down the stairs opened my eyes – there was no way I was going to reach Marcus’ home on foot, even with his help. It was just too far. We had to get a car.

Neither of us had one. I never even bothered to get a driver’s license, much less a car. My parents offered me to buy one on my birthday, but I rejected their generous offer. I just saw no use in it then. Now that I lived on my own, I regretted my foolish decision.

I had no idea why Marcus never bought one. Perhaps he was struggling for money like me. After all, we get the same paycheck for our job each month.

But at least we could call a cab. To do that, we need to get far away from my building. The police would soon be here if my mum was serious about calling them and I didn’t want to be around, especially dressed as I was.

“There is a bookstore nearby,” I told Marcus. “Let’s go there.”

“What?” he asked in confusion. “I thought we were going to my place.”

“I can barely walk, Marcus,” I explained to him with a note of impatience, “It would take hours for us to reach it at my pace.”

“I see,” Marcus nodded. “We should call a cab.”

“Exactly,” I nodded in return, “But we can’t wait here. The police are probably on their way.”

“Right. Let’s go then.”

The police really did show up just as we were going around the corner. It was one car that stopped on the opposite side of the road from us. Two policemen got out and walked in the direction of my building. It could be a coincidence, of course, but I didn’t believe it for a second. They disappeared from my view before I could know for sure.

I tried to imagine what the police would do when they didn’t find me in the apartment. My mum could be very persuasive, but even she wouldn’t be able to make them investigate my “disappearance” at least for a few days if there was no evidence of a crime.

On the other hand, I was pretty sure my condition wouldn’t improve by tomorrow. That means I would have to skip my shift at the store. Perhaps Marcus could come up with some cover story for me for the owner, but if the police checked the store and didn’t find me neither there nor at home, they would have to take my mum’s claim more seriously.

I needed to discuss this with Marcus, but first we would have to reach his place. I didn’t know its exact location, but I knew it was pretty far to walk on foot. That’s why we were standing next to the bookstore now.

It was an old two-storey house. The shop itself was on the first floor, as told by the old sign over it. Various books were displayed on the shop windows. The shop was about to close for the day, judging by a guy who was putting down the shutters.

I suddenly remembered that I forgot my book that I was going to read before I noticed my first changes. I glanced at the bookstore in sadness. I wish I could just go in here and buy a new one to read. At least it would distract me from my problems.

Marcus took out his phone and called a cab service, while I was lost in my thoughts. They promised to send a car in a few minutes. I hoped that nothing would happen while we waited.

The looks that people passing by were giving me had disturbed me. Perhaps they saw me as some weird junkie, seeing as I was wearing a hoodie on a hot summer day and trying to hide my face. It was only a matter of time before one of them decided to call the police too.

We proceeded to a bench under the shade of a tree. From here, we had a direct view of the road, so we wouldn’t miss the cab. I let out a sigh of relief when we sat down. Sitting was fine, while standing up was increasingly uncomfortable for my spine. I wasn’t sure I could even walk on my own by now without Marcus’ help.

A cab arrived after ten silent minutes of waiting. It was a typical British-style cab, small and black. I had never called a cab before, but I saw them every day. I hoped it was comfortable. Marcus opened the back door for me and I climbed inside. He followed right behind me.

The driver looked at me in concern. Thanks God it was dark back there, but I guess I still looked pretty bad even so.

“Are you okay, ma’am?” the man asked after a few moments of staring.

“She’s fine,” Marcus answered before I could open my mouth.

The driver didn’t appear convinced by that blatant lie. My friend wasn’t a liar, which wasn’t a bad thing by itself, but right now he could at least have been more subtle.

“I’m just coming home from a big party, pal,” I said in a relaxed voice. “You know the address?” the driver nodded, “Then what are we waiting for?”

My charade worked much better than Marcus’ direct approach. The driver took off rather abruptly and I got thrown to the back of my seat, but we had finally started to move.

I wiggled uncomfortably, trying to regain my posture. Something was bothering me close to my bottom. Based on the direction of my recent changes, I had a pretty good guess about what it might be. But this wasn’t the time or the place to check it, so I suppressed those feelings for now.

Glancing at the rear-view mirror, I saw the driver looking at me. He looked away when he noticed my attention towards him. I adjusted my hood with my stumps as much as I could so as to hide my face. Not that the stumps themselves were less weird, but at least I could easily put them in my pockets, which I did, far out of sight.

I distracted myself from those thoughts by looking out of the window on the streets flashing by. Nothing interesting caught my eye, so I soon became bored. My thoughts returned again to my present situation.

I was transforming into some weird yellow animal. That much was clear as day to me now, after I got past the initial panic. The fur, the shape of the limbs, the ears – each of those things was one more piece of evidence in my book. But the cause of my transformation still remained unclear.

That was really disturbing. First, my fingers were gone and now I can’t even ride in a cab without arousing suspicion. If the changes continued at this rate, who knows where it would stops?

Marcus touched my shoulder, pulling me out of my thoughts. I looked at him in irritation, which I quickly suppressed. My friend was helping me a great deal and I couldn’t allow myself to be mad at him.

“We’re almost there,” Marcus told me, unaware of my inner struggle.

“Thank you,” I answered. It was like hearing someone else speak. At this point, I was starting to notice the difference in my new voice. I didn’t know how I could have missed it at first.

Marcus’ words proved true as the driver pulled over and stopped at one of a row of similar houses. They looked respectable and probably much more expensive to rent than my small apartment. I hadn’t realized that he could afford something like that. But maybe his parents were rich and bought him a house here; I didn’t know and it was rude to ask, so I just accepted it.

I opened the door and got out, leaning on the car’s roof. It was easier to stand now. My back almost didn’t hurt. I felt a surge of hope: maybe it was a sign that my changes were reversing!

While Marcus was paying the driver for the ride, I stepped away from the car and walked a few steps on my own to test my theory. But my hopes were crashed when I lost my balance and fell down on my face with a frightened shriek. Good thing it was a soft lawn instead of a hard pavement or I could have been hurt.

My friend saw what had happened and rushed to my assistance. Even the cab driver got out of his car to see what was wrong. But I was already getting up on my own. Or, at least, I tried to. Turns out I simply couldn’t anymore.

I put my weight on my arms, but as I made an attempt to stand up, something shifted in my back. I stood on four of my limbs and couldn’t do anything else. My jeans became uncomfortably tight or, more likely, my legs grew thicker. And they didn’t bend like they were supposed to.

Marcus’ strong arms helped me to get vertical. He waved away the driver, who looked like he was about to come and help us.

“Just tripped, don’t worry,” I said in a calm voice, even though I was worried inside.

We went to the house right across the lawn. Each step was hard for me. I guess it would be much easier to just fall on all four and walk like the animal I was becoming. But we had to maintain the façade to the cab’s driver, who was still watching us suspiciously from his car.

He finally took off when we reached the front door of the house. Marcus opened it with a key and we got in. As soon as we were out of sight, I let out a sigh of relief and pulled off my hood. The thing was pretty hot in the summer, even though it was evening already. Marcus gasped as soon as I did that.

“What’s wrong now?” I asked resignedly.

“Your…face is all messed up,” my friend told me. I noticed his stumble on the word “face” and it didn’t fill my heart with confidence.

I touched my face, but couldn’t feel anything with my stump. I examined it closer. Its edges were solid and reflective. It was the same color as my fur and it was hard to distinguish between them. I looked at it in both disgust and fascination. It was a real hoof that had replaced my hand.

At least it explained the problems with my back. If my hands had become hooves now, it meant I was supposed to walk on them, like some quadrupedal animal. But I had been trying to walk like I used to, which was against my spine’s new configuration. It was causing me pain.

“I’m an animal…” I said quietly.

“No, you’re not!” Marcus denied my claim, “You just… mutated for some reason.”

“Mutated into an animal!”

I pushed away from Marcus and bent over to stand on my front hooves. They gave off a loud clopping sound as they kicked the floor. I felt my ears flinch in reaction to the noise.

My neck had become longer, so it was easy to keep my head straight. I glanced back at my friend, without turning my whole body. He was gaping at me for a few seconds, but then snapped out of it and shook his head stubbornly.

“What are you doing? Stand up.”

“I can’t do that anymore,” I told him and made a few probing steps forward. “See?”

It felt much easier and more natural to move that way, rather than crawling. My knees weren’t touching the floor. Instead I felt them being up, on the same level as my body. But I couldn’t feel my toes. That was most likely because I didn’t have them anymore – they had been turned into hooves just like my arms.

“Damn,” Marcus cursed. “This is crazy.”

“Obviously,” I nodded, “But here it is.”

I sat on the floor like a cat. It felt weird. I looked down at my sneakers, which were still stuck to my legs. They were ripped open and a yellow hoof could be seen through the holes. I took them off. They were as useful now as sunglasses at night.

My jeans were also stretched. They painfully squeezed my back legs. I needed to get out of them, before my legs became numb. But I didn’t want to do that in front of Marcus. Not after a first date, I chuckled to myself.

“Do you have a bedroom, Marcus?” I asked him out loud.

“Sure, why?”

“I need to undress,” I told him the truth, “These clothes are uncomfortable for me now.”

“I don’t have any girl clothes for you,” he shrugged, “But I can give you some towels to cover up.”

“That will do for now,” I agreed.

We were still at the entrance. Marcus walked past me to the living room and I followed him. I was on eye level with his waist. I hadn’t exactly been a giant to begin with, but now I felt like a kid.

It was the first time I was in Marcus’ house, so I looked at his living room with interest. It was simply furnished, with a small TV and a plain sofa in the middle. A big cupboard took up the whole wall. Overall it looked okay, if a little boring. My friend led me to a door and invited me inside.

“The bedroom,” he waved his hand in the room’s direction, “There is also a bathroom next door, you can get any towel you want there. I’ll be in the kitchen, making us something to eat.”

“Thank you, Marcus,” I said heartily, “I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“Don’t mention it,” he blushed a little. It was a rare moment when I saw him do that. A smile appeared on my face for a moment, but then I remembered my situation and that moment was gone.

I went inside and closed the door with my back leg. It was surprisingly easy to walk on four legs, as if I had been doing it my whole life. I couldn’t feel the floor under my hooves anymore. I felt some slight pressure but that was it. It was kind of eerie.

I walked up to the bed and put my front hooves on it. Then I climbed up on it and leaned my back on the pillow. The task of taking my jeans off was ahead of me and I had no idea how to begin. If I still had my fingers, it would be a piece of cake, but with hooves…

I poked a button on my belt and noticed it was barely holding in its place. Edging my hoof underneath the belt, I pulled at it with force and the button ripped off. It struck a wall and fell somewhere on the floor. After that, I quickly removed my jeans and tossed them away. I wouldn’t be needing them in the near future.

I could see my legs – there was nothing human left in them. They were covered in yellow fur and ended with big hooves. There went my hard-earned money I had spent on hair removal. Even their shape was animal-like.

And, of course, a long, blue tail with a streak of purple hair running through it was revealed. I wasn’t at all surprised at its discovery. That was what I had felt in the cab on the way here and tried not to think about.

But now, having confirmed its existence with my own eyes, it was hard to ignore. For some reason, the tail had upset me the most out of all my recent changes. Maybe it was so out of place on a human that it finally made me realize for real – I was a mutant, an animal.

I felt my eyes becoming wet with tears. I didn’t want to change; I was perfectly fine with being a human. I just hoped the changes wouldn’t spread to my mind and make me go completely wild, but there was no telling what would happen.

My tail needs to be gone, I suddenly realized. I just couldn’t bear to see it. Cutting it off would be an act of defiance to my transformation. That way, I would prove to myself that I’d be fighting it no matter the odds, until I found a cure.

Marcus said there was a way to the bathroom from this room. I was sure I was going to find a pair of scissors there. But first, I took off my hoodie with the rest of my clothes. Even my bra was thrown away, since there was no point in wearing it.

I hadn’t been an owner of large breasts before, but I didn’t even have those now. Although…I checked my body and found out that they weren’t gone completely, but just traveled down and were sticking out of the lower side of my belly. And they were rather small and hard to notice, that was why I hadn’t seen them at first.

Anyway, I had no idea how I would put a bra on them, so I dismissed the idea completely. Marcus wouldn’t be able to see them anyway since they were down below. The only garment I had left were my panties. I didn’t want to go around flashing my intimate parts for Marcus to see, like some wild beast. Unlike them, I had some dignity.

I turned on my belly and got down from the bed and slowly walked to the bathroom. My hooves were clopping on the wooden floor. That sound was clearly associated with horses in my mind. Maybe that what I was turning into – a horse? I needed to see myself in the mirror to decide.

But getting into the bathroom proved to be harder than I thought. It had a round door knob and I couldn’t get a grip on it with my front hooves. I punched it in frustration, leaving a mark on its surface with my hoof.

“Oops,” I said, feeling a little embarrassed. My hooves weren’t as agile as my hands used to be, but they were definitely more dangerous.

Calming myself down a little, I tried again. This time I was acting with precision and after a few attempts, the door finally opened with a creak. That small victory made me feel a tiny bit better.

The bathroom was as simple as the rest of the house. Simplicity and effectiveness was in Marcus’ style, I guess. In the corner, I saw an actual bathtub instead of a shower in my own apartment. But what interested me right now was a mirror over a sink.

I approached it in trepidation. Just over an hour ago I had noticed the first changes, and now I was already walking on four legs. But I hadn’t yet seen the most recent changes on my face that Marcus had told me about.

I put my front hooves up on the sink and stood up on my back legs to be on eye level with the mirror. I stared at my face, shocked to the core. There was little left of my old features. My nose was no more, having been replaced with a snout. Good thing it was still pretty short. My eyes had also gotten noticeably bigger, at least twice their normal size.

At least my black hair still remained the same. Maybe there was less of it, but the color was my natural one. I gently removed a flock out of my view with my hoof, flicking something hard on my forehead.

A small bump had appeared there. But just as I watched, it was growing bigger and bigger until I had a lone horn sticking out of my head. I let out a sigh. Perhaps I was turning into a rhino after all, since there weren’t any horses with horns.

Just as I thought about that, an image of a unicorn flashed in my head. But my face didn’t look like a real horse’s. It was almost human-like and just as expressive. Although my transformation wasn’t over yet and it could change.

My ears drooped at this particular thought. Even though this wasn’t my normal face, it was still kind of pretty, especially those big eyes. They seemed to be even bigger now. I didn’t want it to go all the way to some ugly horse-like mug.

I turned away from the mirror in disgust and ran out of the bathroom, leaving my plan of finding the scissors behind. Opening the door was already a heavy task for me, so I couldn’t even hope to use them with my clumsy hooves. Marcus would have to help me with this matter.

I went to the living room and from there to the kitchen, where I could hear some clattering sounds. It was Marcus putting the plates on the table. I could smell scrambled eggs – my friend wasn’t a fancy cook, so he just made something fast and simple.

Marcus had heard my hoofsteps and turned around. He was motionless for a few seconds, absorbing my new form, and then turned back to his task of serving the table.

“So…” Marcus said after a pause, “You have a horn now.”

“Yep,” I confirmed his observation. “And also a tail.”

“A tail?” Marcus looked back again. I presented my side to him to show a long, colorful tail dangling behind me. He looked at it in fascination.

“I need your help cutting it off,” I said calmly.

“What?” Marcus raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“Cut it off,” I simply repeated, “Can you do that for me?”

“Of course I can, but why?”

“Why?!” I suddenly snapped at him in anger. “Because it’s a damn tail! Humans don’t have a tail!”

Marcus took my outburst with a stone face. He looked a little upset by my anger, so I said:

“I’m sorry…I’m just…Just afraid of losing my mind and becoming a wild beast. That tail reminds me of everything that is wrong with me.”

“That’s just silly,” Marcus told me, shaking his head. “We’re going to find a way to make you normal again, but cutting off your tail won’t change anything. It can hurt you for all we know.”

“But I don’t want to lose my humanity!” I exclaimed. Why didn’t he understand that?

“I’ll do it if it’s so important to you,” Marcus finally gave up, throwing his hands up, “But only after we eat and talk.”

“That’s reasonable, I suppose,” I said, breathing heavily from my emotional outburst.

I walked up to a chair and stopped in hesitation. I didn’t know how I was supposed to use it now. In the end, I decided to just climb on it and sit on my haunches, my soon-to-be-cut tail hung out to the floor.

Marcus watched my every move with irritating curiosity. He took my transformation much more calmly than me. But I was sure that he wouldn’t have been so tranquil if he had been in my shoes.

“So,” Marcus began, sitting down in his chair opposite to me, “What the hell is going on with you?”

“I wish I knew,” I answered, drooping my ears.

My legs didn’t touch the floor and it made me feel nauseous. I put my hooves on the table to steady myself. Marcus leaned in closely to study my yellow hoof and I glanced at him in irritation.

My stomach rumbled all of a sudden. Some things never change. I tried to pick up a fork, but ended up just shoving it away with my hoof. Damn it, I forgot that I didn’t have fingers anymore.

Instead, I grabbed the plate with the eggs between both of my hooves and ate directly off of it. It was a little embarrassing to eat like that, but I never let such things get in the way of food. Marcus watched me in amusement.

“Finished?” he asked me, after I put the plate back on the table.

“Yep. Thanks for the food, Marcus,” I said.

He just waved his arm, showing it wasn’t a big deal for him. But I was still grateful. He was the best friend I’d ever had since my step-mum. Speaking of her…

“My mum is probably sick with worry,” I said. “I should let her know I’m okay.”

“You already tried and she sicced the cops on you,” Marcus stated.

“Yeah, I know…” I sighed in defeat, “But she didn’t realize it was me. She loves me very much and can be a little crazy sometimes. She’d never had a daughter before she adopted me.”

“You were adopted?” Marcus asked in genuine surprise. I had never mentioned that fact in all our time being friends. In my defense, the topic of my parents had never come up.

“Yes,” I nodded, “Just six years ago, actually.”

“So you grew up in an orphanage?”

“Not really. I don’t remember anything about my past before. It’s kind of a long story.”

“Well,” Marcus spread his arms, “You’re saying you don’t remember a thing from your past and now you’re changing into God knows what. It’s a pretty funny coincidence if you ask me. So, what do you remember?”

It did sound pretty suspicious when he put it that way. Maybe the two events – my lost memory and my transformation – were somehow connected. There was no harm in telling Marcus the story about how I was found.

“Well, the first thing in my life that I remember was about six years ago…”

***

Six years ago.

It was autumn. A young girl was lying unconscious on fallen leaves. She looked to be between 14 and 16 in age. She was dressed in a simple gray gown that looked really shoddy.

A forest was around her with no sign of civilization, except for one weird-shaped boulder just lying among the trees. It was quite big, about two meters in diameter, and had a smooth, flat surface on its upper side, like a table surface. It seemed rather out of place here, considering there were no other rocks anywhere in the vicinity, just a lot of trees.

The girl had been lying on the ground for a few hours before she finally stirred, showing that she was still alive. It was a good thing the autumn was warm or she would have frozen in her light clothes.

She opened her eyes and looked up in confusion, keeping her gaze fixed on the cloudy sky. A strange-looking mirror flashed in her memory before it was gone completely. The girl turned on her belly and stood up on her arms and knees and stayed that way for a few moments, with a dumb expression on her face.

Then, having decided on something, the girl rose up from the ground, standing on two legs. She cringed, stepping on a sharp stick. There was no footwear protecting her delicate feet.

The girl mumbled something indistinctly and looked around. There was nothing but the trees in the forest for all she could see. One thing caught her attention though – the strange boulder.

She approached it clumsily, almost tripping over a few times, even though the boulder was merely a few feet away. It was pretty big – its upper side reaching almost to her chest. The girl put her hand on its smooth surface. It was warm despite being in the shadow of the trees, hidden from the sun.

“Who am I?” she asked the stone, not expecting an answer. She thought of an ice cream as she did that. A sundae in particular.

The girl was standing by the large stone for a while, unsure of what to do. She didn’t know who she was or what she was doing here and was a little scared. But there was no point in standing there and doing nothing, she thought in the end. If no one would appear and save her, she would have to do that herself.

The girl picked a random direction and walked forward. Her steps were clumsy at first, but soon she started to walk better, as much as it was possible with her barren feet. There were no paths that she could see, so the girl had to climb over the fallen trees or find a way around the bushes.

It was evening when she first opened her eyes and it was getting darker now. Soon, she wouldn’t even be able to see her way under the dark shade of the trees. The girl hoped that no wild beasts would attack her. She didn’t know anything about that forest and the dangers within it.

Just as she had thought of that, she heard a rustling sound from the bushes to her left. She froze midstep and stared in that direction, trying to distinguish anything in the darkness.

A bright light suddenly flashed in her face, blinding her. The girl stumbled back with a yelp of fright and fell on the forest’s rough ground.

“Damn it, girl, I almost shot you,” a low, powerful voice told her from behind the flashlight.

She mumbled something too in return, but the man with the flashlight didn’t catch a word. He approached her, hanging a rifle on his shoulder, and helped her get up. Then he asked:

“What are you doing here all alone?”

The girl had no answer.

***

Present Day

“…turns out the man was a hunter. I told him that I didn’t remember anything and he brought me to the local police station. Then I spent some time in a hospital, while the police were trying to figure out who I was. When they couldn’t find me in their database and the search for my relatives yielded no results, I was sent to an orphanage and was soon adopted by a good family. I was lucky that way, I guess.”

“So Annie is not your real name?” Marcus asked thoughtfully.

“It’s the only one I know. They had to make new papers for me, so I chose myself a new one,” I explained to him. “They also wrote down my age by a guess. I’m 20 years old now, but I can easily be a few years off.”

“Wow,” Marcus looked impressed and a little shocked by my story. I would be too if I’d heard anything like that. “You have to admit – you waking up in a forest with no memories sounds pretty damn suspicious.”

“Well, obviously,” I rolled my eyes.

“I mean, what if you were experimented on in some kind of lab?” Marcus shared his theory. “And they just dumped you after they were done. And now you’re mutating…”

I smirked. That sounded all too similar to some conspiracy theories that I had always found ridiculous. Secret experiments, mutations – usually it was all a bunch of hooey to me. Marcus was offended by my reaction, judging by his frown.

“Do you have a better idea?” he asked.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to upset you,” I looked down in shame, “I’m just nervous. You can be right for all I know.”

“We can search the internet,” Marcus said. “Perhaps we’ll find something similar to your situation there. If it really was an experiment, there might be some rumors about that.”

“I suppose,” I shrugged. “But even if we do, then what? And what about my job? I can’t hide in your house forever.”

“I don’t know,” Marcus shook his head, “I’ll take the day off tomorrow and we’ll think about that together. Right now, I think we should rest.”

“I don’t want to rest,” I said and immediately let out a big yawn. “Or maybe I do. Okay then, let’s get some rest.”

I jumped off from my chair and stopped in front of Marcus, who was collecting plates off the table. He looked down at me questioningly, arching his eyebrow.

“You promised me something,” I reminded him and turned around to present my tail.

“Eh…What?” Marcus asked, not getting my point.

“You promised to cut off my tail after we were done with dinner.”

“Ah, that,” he said without any enthusiasm. “Maybe you should reconsider? I don’t see any reason–”

“No, I won’t,” I interrupted him. “It really bothers me. I shudder inside every time when I feel it brushing against my legs. I’m trying to ignore my transformation, but it’s a constant reminder.”

“I don’t think it’s healthy to ignore the facts,” Marcus shook his head in disapproval. “And the fact is you’re not a human anymore, not physically.”

I was appalled at his brutal honesty. Of course, I understood that he was right, but how dared he say that to my face?! I let out an angry neigh and wanted to shoot out a retort, but stopped with an open mouth.

A neigh? It shook me to the core. That is not a human sound, it’s the sound a horse makes. But I look nothing like a usual horse. Maybe Marcus was right and I am the result of some crazy genetic experiment. Suddenly, his theory became much more plausible in my mind.

“What was that?” Marcus asked with a puzzled expression on his face.

“I don’t know,” I answered in a quiet voice. The anger that had been there just a minute earlier had evaporated.

“It sounded like a horse’s neigh—”

“Don’t say that!” I cried out.

Marcus stopped talking and just looked at me in worry. I was wondering myself why it was bothering me so much. Perhaps one of the reasons was that I had always hated changes. When I got used to something, it was very hard for me to accept something new afterwards.

My transformation had happened very suddenly. Just this morning, I had been a completely normal girl and now I’d become a freak. I just hadn’t had the time to adjust. Marcus didn’t understand my situation.

I breathed in and out a few times to take my emotions under control. My discomfort was no excuse to be rude to Marcus, who had already helped me a lot.

“I’m sorry,” I said to him in a broken voice, “I’m just stressed.”

“I understand,” nodded Marcus. “You should get some sleep. I’m giving you my bedroom.”

“There’s really no need,” I rejected his offer, not wanting to give any more trouble to my friend.

“No, it’s fine,” he insisted. “This couch is pretty good. I’ll sleep here today,” Marcus waved his hand at the sofa in the living room.

“If you say so,” I agreed, feeling too tired to argue any more.

“About your tail…” continued Marcus. “If it really bothers you so much, I’ll cut it off tomorrow.”

I silently nodded in thanks and left the kitchen, heading straight to the bedroom. My thoughts were a mess right now and I needed some rest. Maybe tomorrow the situation would become clearer.

This time I opened the door much faster. I decided to just bite on the knob instead of trying to handle it using my hooves. It was uncomfortable, but it worked at least.

I jumped on the bed and curled up on the pillows, closing my eyes. I tried to relax, but something was bothering me. I realized that my tail was trapped between my body and the bed. Nothing like that would ever happen if I was still a human.

I am still a human, I corrected myself. Just because I looked different, it wouldn’t change that fact. That means the tail should go – I won’t be comfortable with it dangling on my rear all the time.

After I turned on my other side, the tail was freed. I wagged it a few times to make sure it was okay, but then caught myself in the action. It doesn’t matter how it was, I was planning to get it cut off tomorrow anyway.

I sighed. What a crazy day I’d had today. It was straight out of the pages of one of the countless fantasy books that I had read. I could barely believe I had actually turned into a weird horse creature now. Hopefully, we would be able to find a way to reverse it. But if we failed, I was afraid to imagine what the rest of my life was going to be.

Part II - Chapter 6: A Shot In the Dark

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Chapter 6: A Shot In the Dark

I opened my eyes to see the unfamiliar white ceiling over me. I’d gotten used to the dull gray ceiling of my own room, so I understood immediately that I had been sleeping somewhere else. It took a few seconds for my sleepy brain to remember everything. My mood became sour as soon as I did.

The room was brightly lit by a sunlight shining through the window. It meant that I was late for work, though it would be crazy to go there while looking like the weird yellow creature that I was. And I couldn’t even call in sick – they wouldn’t recognize me with the new voice.

Because I had apparently slept much more than usual, I was feeling well-rested. I glanced at my body to see if anything more had changed. Nope, it was the same one as yesterday.

There was no point in staying in bed any longer, so I rolled out of it. I landed on all fours on the floor with a loud clop. I cringed when my ears flinched from the sound. I wasn’t used to ears that moved on their own. It wasn’t painful or anything, just a little annoying.

Speaking of annoying things – I twisted my neck to look at my behind, checking if the tail was still there. It was sticking out of my rump like a sore thumb and showed no signs of going away. If anything, it had gotten even longer and fluffier.

I guess it even looked pretty in its rich, blue color with a bright streak of purple. I would have liked it if I saw it on a cute animal. Concentrating on it, I made the tail swing up and down, getting an interesting sensation at its base.

But there wasn’t any time for distractions. Humans are not supposed to have tails. I had made a decision to cut the thing off and I planned to follow it through, no matter how cool it looked.

Stopping playing with my tail, I energetically trotted to the exit, but stopped half-way, when I felt the call of nature. The horrible realization dawned on me – I hadn’t used the bathroom since yesterday.

I had no idea how I was going to sit on the toilet to do my business, but it was dangerous to delay it any longer. Turning in the other direction, I rushed to the bathroom as fast as possible. Opening the door with my mouth, I got in.

The whole process took me longer than expected, but I was finally done. Instead of using a toilet that obviously wasn’t supposed to be used by quadrupeds – which I figured out the hard way – I just used the bathtub instead. I made a mental note to warn Marcus about that to avoid any unfortunate accidents.

When I had finally left the bedroom, I saw Marcus sleeping on the couch with a closed laptop in his embrace. I approached carefully, trying to put my hooves down without making a noise.

I was feeling hungry, but I suppose I could try to get something to eat myself without bothering Marcus. My friend deserved some sleep too.

I glanced at his watch – it showed 11 AM. Marcus was supposed to have been at work a long time ago, but he probably took the day off like he had promised yesterday. I sighed, drooping my ears.

He was going through all this trouble for me without even asking anything in return. I had always wanted Marcus to be more than just a friend and just as our relationship was about to go somewhere, this weird change had to happen! If we didn’t find a way to make me normal again, I could as well bury all my hopes. He needed a woman in his life, not a weird creature like me.

Marcus stirred, starting to wake up. The laptop would have fallen off of his arms if I hadn’t stopped it with my foreleg. He opened his eyes, looking at me half-awake and then suddenly jumped back with a scream.

His reaction startled me so much that I was forced to take a step back, tripping on my own tail in the process. If I’d still walked on two legs, I would have fallen hard and probably hurt myself, but now I just fell on my rump.

“It’s just me, Marcus,” I told him, feeling saddened by his reaction. My earlier fears had been proven true – he wouldn’t like me in my current form.

Marcus had calmed down already and was sitting there with an embarrassed expression on his face. He looked down at the laptop that was lying on the floor and picked it up.

“Sorry about that,” Marcus said with a tiny smile, “I was just having a nightmare and when I opened my eyes and saw you…”

He stopped saying anything when he saw my tearful eyes. I had every right to be upset over the fact that I could scare him like a nightmare.

“Eh, don’t be upset, Annie,” my friend said, patting me on my head, “I was just startled, not scared by you. You actually look really cute.”

“Really?” I asked in disbelief. “You like it?”

“Yes,” Marcus nodded, “You should consider yourself lucky that you didn’t turn into some hideous monster instead.”

“Why, thank you,” I said with a voice full of sarcasm. “I’m so lucky.”

Marcus made a noncommittal shrug.

“Your hair has changed color, by the way,” he told me. “It’s the same as your tail now.”

I lifted a strand of hair to give it a look and confirmed that he was right. Not that there was any doubt. In fact, I would be more surprised if the hair color had remained unchanged. Everything else had become different, so why not the hair?

“Speaking of the tail–” I started to speak, but was interrupted by Marcus.

“I get it,” he said unhappily, “You hate it and want it cut off. I’m gonna get my scissors.”

“Thank you,” I nodded.

Marcus was clearly showing his displeasure at the idea, but it simply had to be done, despite how nice the tail looked. I should remove it now before I became too attached to it.

I followed Marcus to the kitchen, where he took a pair of scissors from a drawer. Then he looked down at me.

“Turn around and stay still,” he ordered.

I did as he asked, lifted my tail up and waited. Seconds passed, but nothing happened. The tail started to shudder in tension – it was pretty hard to keep it in such a position. I turned back to see the reason for the delay and saw Marcus staring at my rump with a weird expression.

Noticing my attention, he blushed heavily and turned his eyes away from me, saying:

“I think you need to put on some panties…”

“What?!” I twitched in shock and pulled my tail down in an attempt to cover my lady parts, realizing that I was completely exposed!

Keeping my backside pointing in a different direction, I turned around to face him. My coat felt almost like clothes in its own right, so I must have forgotten to put on some real ones. And Marcus saw everything…

“I wasn’t expecting to see something like that,” he said, brushing a palm over his hair nervously. “At least, not until a third date.”

“Very funny,” I said in a flat voice. “This is so awkward…”

“Yep,” Markus chuckled. “Anyway, you want me to continue?”

I shook my head in disagreement. I was already having some doubts and after that incident I had become reluctant to follow up on my plan. Maybe the tail should stay after all. It didn’t seem that bad now – I was starting to get used to it.

“Your choice,” Marcus shrugged, putting the scissors away. “I found some leads about your transformation in my late-night internet search, by the way.”

“You did?” I asked excitedly, throwing the issue of clothes out of my head. I didn’t have anything of my size anyway.

Marcus walked silently past me back to the living room and sat on a couch. He took his laptop and patted the place next to him, inviting me to join. I didn’t need to be asked twice.

“Well, what is it?” I asked impatiently, settling on the couch.

“After you’d told me your story yesterday, I got some ideas…” began Marcus.

I listened to him with great interest. While I had been sleeping, Marcus had managed to conduct some small research about the area where I was found.

Turns out, the forest was considered pretty weird by the local population. There were sightings of strange creatures in the past and, though none of them had actually been confirmed, the place still had quite a reputation. Even the large stone that I saw when I first opened my eyes was mentioned.

“…They call it simply The Boulder,” Marcus explained to me, opening a page of the local town’s forum. “See? There was a pretty heated argument between some users here; either it’s cursed or it’s just a scary story for the children. I find it a striking coincidence, don’t you?”

“The Boulder?” I rolled the name over my tongue skeptically. “I admit, that’s strange. But yesterday you thought I was a lab experiment and now you think some rock is to blame?”

“I just don’t know what to think, Annie,” Marcus looked at me seriously. “I don’t see people transforming into other creatures every day.”

I fell deeply into thought. What if it really was a curse? Despite my love for fantasy, I had never believed in real-life curses, but Marcus was right – my transformation was a pretty big event to ignore. It wasn’t difficult to believe in the existence of real magic if you were its actual victim.

A loud knock on the door made us both flinch. I didn’t think Marcus was expecting someone else over, judging by the surprised glance he shared with me.

He pointed to the bedroom, suggesting that I hide inside and waited; so I rushed to do just that. I could still see the entrance directly through the keyhole though, so I stood there and watched, wondering who that might be.

“Mr. Brown? My name is Inspector Frost,” a man in a police uniform introduced himself, after Marcus had opened the door.

I felt like my stomach had been twisted into knots. The police visit was definitely connected to my mum’s call yesterday. It meant that my disappearance was already being investigated and as much as I wanted to reveal myself and stop that nonsense, I understood it was a bad idea. We had to handle this situation ourselves.

“Can I help you, Inspector?” Marcus asked in a slightly shaken voice.

“As a matter of fact, you can,” the inspector nodded. “Are you aware that your colleague has gone missing?”

“I saw all of them just yesterday and they were fine.”

“Anne Evans, the girl you work with in one shift, has been reported missing,” the policemen continued sternly. “You were seen leaving the store together. What was the last time you saw her?”

“Eh, I just…just walked her home and that’s all,” Marcus explained.

“I see. There is no official investigation yet, we’re just asking questions to her friends and colleagues so far. But I still recommend you stay in town for the near future. This is all. Good day, sir.”

With that, the inspector nodded politely and left just as suddenly as he had appeared. Marcus stood by the entrance for a moment, dumbfounded, before finally closing it after him and looking in my direction.

I slowly emerged out of the bedroom, feeling lightheaded. It seemed like my friend was getting into trouble because of me and I didn’t like it one bit. My heart clenched in guilt.

“Wow,” he said with a deep frown. “That was pretty intense.”

“I’m so sorry, Marcus…”

“Sorry?” he asked in surprise. “You’re not the one to blame here. Your overprotective mum is.”

Thinking over his words, I understood that logically he was right. But I still felt responsible for bringing the attention of the police to him.

The only way to stop them now, besides revealing myself, was to fix my condition as soon as possible. Marcus had found a lead – the “cursed” rock – and despite how ridiculous it sounded, that was the only explanation we had right now.

Marcus apparently had come to the same conclusion, because he said:

“We should leave immediately, before things escalate. Go to the place where you were found. I feel like we’re going to find some answers there.”

I started to nod at first, but then I saw a problem with his plan. I couldn’t just go outside – I looked too different now. There was no way for me to pass for a human, even if I wore a hoodie that proved to be so useful yesterday. Marcus agreed after I shared my concern with him.

Together we came up with a better plan. According to it, we should leave in the late evening, when it was already dark. We would use my quadruped shape to its advantage, meaning that I would pretend to be a dog. I figured that I would pass as one from afar and Marcus supported the idea. Then he would call a cab and we would drive to the place where I was found, in comfort.

The place itself wasn’t far from here. It was small town, basically a village, near Marlborough, west of London. If everything went right, we should be there in less than two hours.

Our plan was based on the hope that the police wouldn’t do anything until tomorrow. Everything would be ruined if they decided to make Marcus a suspect in the case of my “disappearance” and detained him.

***

I was lying on a couch and looked out of the window, deeply in my thoughts. I had started to get a little worried. Dusk was already setting outside, but Marcus hadn’t returned yet.

We had a full brainstorm earlier and dismissed our rushed idea about taking a cab while I pretended to be a dog. It was too risky. I just didn’t resemble one with my bright yellow coat, even in the dark.

Our new, improved plan was to rent a car and drive to the place ourselves, so Marcus went out to get it. He had a driver’s license so it wasn’t going to be a problem. To be honest, I had expected him to return a long time ago.

My already high opinion about Marcus only grew in the light of recent events. He told me that he took a self-paid vacation at work for a whole week just to help me.

When he had mentioned it in his usual off-handed manner earlier, I was so touched that I stood up on my back legs and embraced him in a tight hug. I wasn’t sure if he’d liked it, though. After all, we’d never hugged during our months of working together.

Finally, a sound of a key turning inside a lock announced the arrival of Marcus. I knew that it was him, since no one else had a key to his place. Jumping off the couch, I trotted to the entrance to meet him. The sound of my hooves clopping on the floor still disconcerted me a little.

During the long wait, we were trying to figure out into what exactly I was transforming. Our most reasonable guess was a horse. Obviously, I was looking pretty far off from a real horse, but the structure of my body was similar, as the internet search showed us.

Those differences were for the better. I would probably take my condition much more poorly if I had become a real horse. First of all, real horses couldn’t talk and, secondly, I discovered that my new body was almost as agile as my old human one. The main drawback was the lack of fingers – it was hard for me to do even the simplest things now.

I was harshly reminded of that fact when my mum tried to call me just after Marcus left home. At that point, I would have taken another chance at explaining the situation to her, but my hooves simply didn’t work on a touchscreen. All I could do was to watch the screen helplessly, unable to answer. My mood went sour right after that.

When Marcus opened the door and came in, he was wearing a happy smile. I didn’t want to ruin his mood, so I greeted him with a smile of my own that was hiding my distress.

“Have you got a car?” I asked, trying to sound excited.

“Yes!” my friend answered, not noticing my drooped ears. “And for a good price too. I rented it for a whole week.”

“A whole week?” I raised my eyebrows. “Isn’t it too much? The place we’re going to is just a few hours’ drive away.”

“I figured that better safe than sorry,” shrugged Marcus. “They told me I could return it earlier and get the money back for the remaining days.”

“I’ll return you the money as soon as we figure out how to fix me back, I promise,” I mumbled, looking down at my hooves. I didn’t like the feeling of being in debt to someone.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Annie,” he waved off my concerns like some annoying mosquito. “I have some money saved and I didn’t really spend all that much. You would have done the same.”

I decided not to tell him my doubts about that and simply nodded instead, forcing a smile to return on my face.

“So, the car is waiting outside,” Marcus said, pointing behind his back. “We have to take along some blankets though, because most likely we’re going to sleep in it.”

I didn’t look forward to sleeping in the car, but we couldn’t really book a room in a local hotel. The town was known for its rumors about strange creatures, but a yellow, talking horse staying at the hotel would prove too much even for them.

There was nothing for me to take, so I just sat on the floor and waited for Marcus to finish packing. It didn’t take long – all he took was a pair of blankets. He figured that it was easier to buy food at the place than try to pack whatever he had in the fridge.

When we were finally set to go, it was already dark out on the streets, just as we had planned. I carefully strolled outside, glancing around to see if there were any late strugglers, but the street was empty.

The car that Marcus was talking about was parked on the side of the road. It was pretty roughed up – I could see its scratched gray surface in the light of the street lanterns. I wasn’t a car expert, so I couldn’t distinguish its exact model, but it definitely wasn’t anything from this century. At least it was cheap.

Marcus went ahead of me to open the front door. It was very thoughtful of him since it would be difficult for me to do it myself. With a grateful nod, I climbed onto the seat.

An unpleasant smell reached my nostrils as soon as I got inside. I quickly noticed its source, standing on the dashboard. It was a half-eaten hamburger by the looks of it.

I suddenly realized that that transformation must have affected my taste preferences too. As far as I knew, horses were vegetarian by default. It meant I was a vegetarian now as well. That also explained my sudden dislike of tacos in the restaurant Marcus took me.

The door to my right opened and Marcus settled in the driver’s seat, fastening his seat belt. I gave him a questioning look and he got my hint. Reaching over, he fastened my belt too.

The car started with a low rumble and we slowly moved forward. I noticed with worry that Marcus was holding the wheel so hard his knuckles were white. He was concentrating on driving harder than was comfortable for me.

It wasn’t really surprising, since he didn’t own the car himself and was probably out of practice. I just hoped that his skills were enough to get us to the destination in one piece.

Marcus accelerated our pace when we got out of the town itself. The road ahead of us was mostly empty, which gave him more confidence, and we started to move pretty fast. I touched my belt nervously, making sure it was holding me tightly just in case.

I didn’t want to distract my friend with pointless talk, so we drove in silence. Since there was nothing for me to do, I closed my eyes to get a quick nap.

It seemed like no time had passed at all when I was woken up by Marcus shaking me. Opening my eyes with a powerful yawn, I glanced at him.

“We’re here,” he explained.

“So?” I asked in a cracked voice. “Weren’t we supposed to sleep in the car?”

“I was thinking about that,” Marcus admitted, “But let’s try to find a hotel room first. I’m going to book one and then you slip inside.”

“That sounds pretty risky.”

“We’re going to spend some time here anyway,” he told me with a shrug, “Might as well do that in comfort.”

I had nothing to say against it, so it was settled. Marcus opened up the map on his phone and checked for the closest hotels. He found one quickly and soon we had parked nearby, examining it from a distance.

It was a two-storey building with a car park in front of it. It wasn’t big, but it was good enough for a small town like that. A few windows were illuminated, showing that some people were staying there.

Marcus explained his idea to me. He was going to book a room on the first floor and open up a window. Then I was supposed to sneak in unnoticed. The place was lit up all around, but it was night, so we hoped that no one would be looking out.

I got out of the car and waited, watching Marcus park it in the car park. The night air was chilly, but I wasn’t freezing despite being basically naked. My coat was saving me from that. At the very least, I could save some money on clothes if I stayed in this form for long.

Finally, I saw one of the dark windows light up and Marcus’ silhouette appeared in the frame. It was my cue.

Crossing the road, I cringed from the loud clopping of my hooves on the firm asphalt. Slowing down, I carefully approached the window. Marcus was holding his hands, ready to grab me, but just when I was about to climb up, something happened.

I heard an angry bark from behind and a sharp pain suddenly pierced my thigh. I shrieked and bucked by a reflex. My back hoof hit the attacker and it let go of my leg. Turning around, I saw a dog getting up from the ground.

The dog was almost the same height as me when it stood on all fours. The collar on its neck suggested that it wasn’t some wild stray dog. It growled angrily and revealed the sharp teeth in its maw. I looked at them in fright.

“Annie!” Marcus shot out.

I couldn’t answer, because the dog was about to pounce on me again. Not waiting for another attack, I sprinted off, trying to get as far from it as possible. I could hear the dog on my heels.

Turns out my new body was fast, but even galloping at full speed I couldn’t shake the damn dog off my tail. If I was still a human, it would have caught me already.

After a few minutes of non-stop running, I went out of breath. It became increasingly hard to maintain my pace. I dared to throw a glance behind only to see that monster a few feet away.

Taking a sharp turn, I gradually came to a stop. The dog ran past me by inertia at first, but then quickly turned around to face me. I was heavily panting from the chase, but I was far from giving up.

I tried to scare the dog off by stomping my hooves loudly, but it continued to advance on me menacingly, saliva dripping from its mouth. A wave of fear washed over me and I backed away, not daring to break eye contact.

“Just go away!” I screamed at it in frustration.

My words had the opposite effect on the beast as it lunged at me with a bloodcurdling snarl. I dropped to the ground with a panicked shriek, putting my forelegs over my head.

I expected the bites to come, but they didn’t. The dog’s barking could still be heard, but it sounded kind of muffled now. I carefully looked out between my hooves and saw in amazement how the dog was pointlessly throwing itself at a faint, blue force field that had appeared in front of me.

I got up, still shaking from the adrenaline. The dog had given up its attempts to break the shield and was just growling angrily. We looked at each other for a full minute straight, until it finally turned around and ran away in defeat.

The field disappeared as soon as I had lost sight of the dog. I let out a breath and fell on my knees, feeling awfully tired. The adrenaline was gone and I started to feel the pain from the bite in my back leg.

Looking back, I saw small droplets of blood on the road. It wasn’t telling me anything good. I had to take care of the wound as soon as possible. The dog’s jaw was pretty large and could have left a nasty mark on my thigh.

It could have been much worse if not for the mysterious field. Such things weren’t supposed to be possible; it was a thing out of the sci-fi stories that I so loved. When two impossible things in a row happened to me, it definitely wasn’t a coincidence.

The field was most likely connected to my new body. Perhaps my panic triggered some defense mechanism. It was an awesome ability to have and I wondered if I could invoke it at will. But that would be something for later.

I spared a few glances at my surroundings to get my bearings. I was lying in the middle of an empty road; a row of similar cozy houses was on both sides from me. They were built in the same style as Marcus’ own. All their windows were dark, which was a promising sight so far.

No one had seen me yet as far as I could tell, but I was sure someone was going to check out the commotion. I had to get away from this spot immediately, despite how tired I was. Standing back on my hooves, I limped in the opposite direction from where the dog went.

I planned to take a roundabout way to the hotel, so I wouldn’t meet the dog again. I still couldn’t believe that I had managed to drive it off. Who even let such a crazy dog just roam freely on the streets? It was irresponsible and dangerous. I would have reported the owner to the police if I had known who it was.

There were no bushes at the sides of the road to hide in, so I had no other choice but to be out in the open. Keeping the general direction of the hotel in mind, I took a few turns to the right and walked straight ahead for a while until I finally saw it.

But I didn’t let myself relax just yet – the dog could still be around somewhere. I approached the building carefully, watching for any sudden movement. Soon I noticed Marcus pacing nervously under the open window.

My friend saw me as well because he broke into a run to meet me half-way.

“Thank God you’re fine,” he said with relief, looking me up for any injuries. “I was terrified when that dog jumped at you. Let’s get you inside before someone sees us.”

I silently nodded, not wishing to stay on the street any longer myself. I limped behind, but I was unable to keep up with his fast pace. Marcus looked back to check what was wrong.

“That fucking dog…” he growled, finally noticing my wound. “Does it hurt?”

“What do you think?” I sighed.

“Get on my back,” ordered Marcus, “I’ll carry you.”

I didn’t need to be asked twice. At this point, I was barely able to stand. The force field that I had produced earlier had taken a lot of my strength and I had already been tired from running.

Marcus crouched down, so I could easily wrap my forelegs around his neck. He stood up with a grunt and got me to the window much more quickly than I would have on my own. He helped me to climb up on the window sill and then jumped in himself.

Finally, I could relax. I dropped on the rag in the middle of the room and rolled on my back, having no desire to move anymore. Marcus had another idea, however.

“We should treat your bite, Annie,” he said. “Dog bites can be pretty dangerous.”

Without even waiting for my answer, he just picked me up and put me on the bed. The bed was rough, but it was to be expected from a hotel in a small backwoods town.

Marcus went to a bathroom, probably to find a med-kit. The search didn’t take long – it was right where it was supposed to be. I stretched my hurt leg to make the process easier for him.

He disinfected the wound first. I bit my lower lip hard, trying not to yelp out in pain when Marcus worked on the injury. The whole process went smoothly, however, and soon he was bandaging it.

“Thank you, Marcus” I said weakly.

“You’re welcome.”

***

I felt much better the next morning after getting a good night’s rest. We both were hungry, so Marcus brought some quick food from a local store. I warned him about my new diet preferences, so he wouldn’t waste the money on something I would find disgusting.

After a nice meal together, Marcus had gone out again. He was supposed to visit a local library – and maybe a pub – and ask people about The Boulder in the forest. I had seen it just once six years ago, so I didn’t remember its exact location.

I was dying of boredom after the first few hours alone. Soon I started to explore my new body’s abilities since there was nothing better for me to do. My goal was to produce something like yesterday’s force field again.

I settled on the bed, bending my forelegs under me. It was weird, because the position would be impossible in my old human form, but now it felt pretty comfortable.

Slowly breathing in and out, I started to relax. Closing my eyes, I tried to remember what I felt yesterday besides panic when the dog was about to pounce.

There was something…and just out of reach. Some weird feeling on the top of my head that had appeared right before the force field – that was probably it. I tried to emulate it now, but to no avail.

I wasn’t about to give up after the first try, however. Having that ability would be pretty awesome, so I made another attempt. This time I felt something. A few sparks came off of my horn with a crackling sound.

Of course! My horn was the channel for the energy that was used to create the field. It wasn’t some useless sprout as I thought at the beginning of my transformation. The exact nature of the energy wasn’t clear, but I had a pretty solid guess. And thanks to my horn, I could learn to control it.

Having understood the basics, it became much easier to summon the energy. After a few more attempts, I was able to produce a bunch of sparks, but I was far from producing the actual protection field as I did yesterday.

Perhaps I should see if I could use the energy for something else. Opening my eyes, I searched the room around me, trying to come up with an idea, when a lamp on the nightstand caught my attention. A smile of anticipation grew on my face.

Concentrating my stare on the lamp, I focused the energy into my horn. The more energy went there, the more tired I felt. When I decided it was enough, I just let go of it and the result surpassed all of my expectations.

A blast of blue light shot out of my horn and hit the lamp. It flew off from the nightstand and crashed into the wall with force, breaking into pieces. I twitched when one of the shards whistled just a few inches past my ear.

Marcus chose exactly this moment to return, of course. He walked in just after the lamp's destruction. Closing the door behind him, he faced me with raised eyebrows, moving his eyes between me and the mess by the wall.

“You know I have to pay for anything we break here,” he told me in a disapproving voice.

“Sorry, it wasn’t on purpose,” I lowered my gaze for a second, but then looked up with enthusiasm: “You wouldn’t believe what I just did!”

“Broke the hotel’s property?” my friend deadpanned.

“No! I mean, yes, but that’s not the point here,” I waved my hooves in frustration. “I used telekinesis to do that!”

“What?” Marcus frowned.

“Telekinesis. Real magic,” I explained. “That was how I escaped the dog yesterday.”

I quickly recounted yesterday’s events. It looked like Marcus had believed me, especially after I told him about my horn and demonstrated the sparks that I could shoot from it.

“This is incredible,” was Marcus’ review after I had finished.

He sat on the bed beside me and cautiously touched my horn with his index finger. I could only feel a slight pressure from it, like when you touched your nail.

“It’s warm,” Marcus said.

“Makes sense, since it channels the magic through it.”

“Are you sure it’s magic though?” asked Marcus with some doubt.

I simply nodded in answer. Magic was the most logical explanation, as strange as it may seem. I had never believed in magic before, since there was no real proof, but in the last few days I’d gotten much more of it than I could handle.

“Just remember how I looked two days ago and say you don’t believe in magic,” I said seriously, looking into Marcus’ green eyes.

“You have a point there,” he admitted.

We sat in silence for a few minutes after that, rethinking our shattered world-view. We just proved that real magic existed in the world. But was I the only one who could use it or were there others like me?

“You’ve turned into a unicorn,” Marcus broke the silence all of a sudden.

“A unicorn…” I repeated thoughtfully. Similar thoughts had visited my head earlier and hearing the same from Marcus only made them more convincing.

“Horse-like anatomy, a horn, magical stuff – you’re a unicorn, despite how ridiculous it might sound,” Marcus spread his hands apologetically.

“No, I agree too. It makes sense,” I assured him. “Anyway, have you found out about The Boulder?”

“Ah, yes,” Marcus perked up, “That rock is pretty famous in town, as I’ve learned today. There are a lot of rumors and legends going on about it.”

Marcus explained that The Boulder had been in the forest even before the town’s establishment. Some people thought it was just a rock, while others believed in its power. They claimed that a man felt strange when he went close to it and a lot of weird creatures could be seen near it sometime.

I knew that it wasn’t some baseless nonsense. The stone was somehow connected to my memory loss and, most likely, the transformation itself. I didn’t know the exact nature of the connection, but fully intended to find out.

“Do you know how to find it?” I asked Marcus eagerly.

“Yep,” he nodded. “I paid one guy to show me the road. I told him that I’m a tourist.”

“Oh…”

Marcus was generously spending his own money for me and I didn’t know how to feel about that. On the one hand, I was grateful, but on the other, I was feeling indebted to him more and more. I wish I had some money of my own to contribute, but I was broke. I didn’t let my conflicted emotions appear on my face, though.

“Thank you,” I said instead. “Are you sure you remember the way?”

“Well, yeah…” answered Marcus, rubbing his neck.

“Okay then. We should go tonight.”

“I don’t know if I can find the way in the darkness, Annie,” Marcus shook his head. “We should go early, I think.”

“But I can’t walk on the street during the day,” I objected.

“You would have to just get into the car and we’d drive there,” explained Marcus. “And no one would see you in the forest itself. Going to the forest at night is a bad idea, believe me.”

I was nervous, but Marcus had a good point. The last time was pretty scary, but I was rescued by the hunter early on. Getting lost in the woods at night again wasn’t something I wanted to experience.

We still had a few hours before the evening, so, in the end, we decided to go right away. Marcus drove the car closer to the hotel and opened a window for me. Making sure that no one was watching, I jumped out, almost landing on my face, and rushed to the car.

I laid on the back seat this time; a unicorn on the front seat would definitely catch the attention of people in the daylight. I stayed there during the whole trip which, thankfully, was short. Soon Marcus went on a country road and stopped on the edge of the forest.

“That’s where we go in,” Marcus pointed at the dark, impenetrable wall of trees. “The stone is a half hour’s walk from here.”

“Really?” I asked with doubt in my voice. The sight before me didn’t fil me with confidence.

“Yeah, there is a path nearby,” my friend assured me. “You can’t see it from here, but I know there is.”

Marcus opened the door for me and I climbed out. The air close to the forest was unusually clean. I wasn’t used to it while living in town. It was also warm; the sun was still shining brightly above us.

But it was much gloomier in the forest itself. We walked with Marcus inside the forest until I saw the path myself. It was just a thin line between the trees, which was easy to miss. It wasn’t used very often, based on its poor condition.

A low growl behind us made my blood run cold. Turning around, I saw a stranger with his dog, standing on the path. I recognized the dog as the same one that had attacked me by the hotel yesterday. The man was pointing a rifle at us and his stare was eager.

“You?” Marcus asked in surprise.

“Me,” admitted the stranger with a grin.

The man was strangely familiar, but I couldn’t quite place his face. He was wearing a shabby semi-military costume with a vest full of pockets, having the look of a typical hunter. Judging by the rifle in his hands – he was one.

But I was more afraid of his dog. The gray beast looked at me without blinking, growling menacingly. I felt my back leg twitch where it had bitten me yesterday. A few seconds passed and it didn’t attack me, so I realized that it was waiting for the order.

I switched my attention to the hunter. The man studied me with great interest, like some curious museum exhibit. We stood in silence just staring at each other until finally the man broke it.

“They called me crazy for believing in all those stories, but I knew I was right all along…”

“What stories? Put your rifle away and let’s talk, man,” Marcus offered, trying to sound reasonable.

“I saw you at the hotel yesterday when my dog chased that creature of yours…” the man said rapidly. “When you showed up in town today asking about The Boulder, I knew that it was connected somehow, so I offered to show you the road, hoping that you would bring the creature here.”

“Sure, man,” nodded Marcus, “Let’s put the rifle down and we can talk all about “the creature”.”

I was listening to the conversation in fright. The hunter didn’t seem like a stable person. Once again, I was the reason Marcus had gotten in trouble. First with the police and now some crazy hunter was pointing a gun at us.

“I need that creature!” shouted the hunter, his dog barking along. “I’ve been looking for such a thing for years!”

“It’s not a creature; it’s my friend,” Marcus stepped forward, making the hunter twitch the rifle nervously. “She’s a human being, just like you and me.”

“Don’t take me for a fool, boy,” frowned the man. “It’s not a human.”

“I actually am,” I opened my mouth and regretted it instantly when he suddenly pointed his rifle at me. My ears drooped and my tail tucked itself between my legs.

“It can talk?” the man asked, astonished. “Can it understand what I’m saying?”

I froze in place, not daring to say another word. I was looking at the rifle’s muzzle that seemed to be pointing right in my face, despite the hunter being a dozen meters from us.

“You need to chill, man,” repeated Marcus. “She can talk because she’s a human. She suddenly started to change into this form a few days ago.”

“That’s bull,” the hunter said.

He took a few steps closer to us and his dog followed him obediently, still looking at me eagerly. I had a terrible guess that it remembered my taste and just wanted some more.

“Stop playing games! Just give me the creature and I won’t set my dog on you.”

Marcus took an involuntary step back when the dog made a series of loud barks at him, but quickly regained his position.

“Why are you doing this, man?”

“I told you!” the hunter exclaimed angrily, advancing forward. He was now standing at half the distance that he had been at the beginning. “I need that creature!”

While they were having this dialog, I started to quietly gather up my magical strength. My plan was to blast them the same way I had destroyed the lamp back at the hotel, but it was risky. I had to choose only one target – either the man with the rifle or his large dog.

“Hey, why is its horn glowing?” the hunter asked, approaching more closely.

I realized that my magic manipulations had been noticed; there was no time to lose now. Releasing my magic, I pointed the blast at the dog as the most dangerous of the two. It was thrown far back with a wail and fell somewhere in the bushes.

Marcus, in turn, jumped at the hunter under his rifle and tackled him to the ground. The rifle fell from his hands on the ground and I kicked it to the side just in case.

The two men struggled, while I was just standing by pointlessly, wishing to help somehow. I would use my blast again, but they were too close to each other and even the first blast left me panting from exhaustion.

Thankfully, Marcus came out the winner in the end. He stood up, leaving the hunter lying on the ground with a bloody face; he was out cold. My friend was a little hurt too: his lip was starting to swell and blood trickled from his nose, but that was it.

We exchanged glances. None of us knew what to do at first, but then Marcus gathered his thoughts. He picked up the hunter’s rifle and took his backpack for himself.

“That’ll teach him,” he commented his action for me.

I simply nodded – that guy deserved getting his stuff taken.

“We need to find a rope and tie him up.”

“He’s the same guy who had found me six years ago!” the recognition hit me suddenly.

“It’s not surprising,” Marcus shrugged. “He probably walks here a lot. He isn’t being so helpful this time.”

Before we could do something, his dog jumped out of the bushes and ran towards us in rage.

“Fuck…Run!”

We took off as fast as two Olympic athletes. But the dog wasn’t interested in following us, it stopped by its owner and ran around him agitatedly. I saw it when I looked back.

Only when the dog was lost far behind us, hidden from our sight by the wall of wood, did we finally stop. Marcus looked at the rifle still in his hands and laughed. I looked at him suspiciously. I hoped that he hadn’t lost his mind with all that stress lately.

“I just realized – I could have just shot the damn dog,” he told me, still laughing.

“Shoot?” I gasped.

“Sure. It hurt you and would do so again.”

I admired Marcus’s resolve, but at the same time I wished he didn’t have to do this. The dog was mean, sure, but it was just an animal. I didn’t like the idea of hurting animals, even if they were trying to hurt me.

“Let’s just go find The Boulder…” I said, trying to distract him from such dangerous thoughts. “Who knows, maybe it just changes me back or something.”

“It’s as good a guess as any,” Marcus nodded.

He went forward, since he knew the way, and I followed behind. My strength was slowly regaining; I wasn’t feeling quite as tired as right after the blast. It was a good thing in case I needed to use it again.

We were moving fast, wishing to find the stone quickly, hoping that it would solve my problem. It was our only lead and I didn’t know what I would do if The Boulder turned out to be a big bust.

Although this new body wasn’t as bad as I thought at first and had some awesome abilities, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to keep it forever. The thing I missed the most was the use of my fingers. I could get by using my mouth for taking stuff instead, but it wasn’t the same.

Marcus was silent the whole way through. He was probably thinking heavy thoughts of his own. I decided to distract him with small talk and it helped make the time go by faster.

Soon we arrived at our goal. I recognized the white stone immediately. Six years had passed since I’d last been here, but The Boulder looked the same.

The big rock was just standing on a small opening among the trees – I could feel some energy coming off of it. I didn’t remember feeling anything like that before. Perhaps it was connected to my changes after all. Feeling a surge of hope, I walked closer to The Boulder.

Marcus stayed close to me all the time. He put his hand on my back and stroked my fur. It was a weird, but nice feeling, so I didn’t tell him to stop. It was having a calming effect on me, which I needed right now.

Being closer to The Boulder, I could feel the energy more clearly. I knew now that it was magic. So the local legends were true: the stone was magical. Maybe I had to trigger it somehow? Was that what I had done the last time and what had destroyed my memory? But I still had no clue why I was transformed to a unicorn six years after the incident.

“So, what do you think, Annie?” Marcus asked with a hopeful voice.

“I think you were right,” I said and looked him in the eyes. His face was a mix of hope and worry. “I’ll try to do something now…”

Without taking the time to explain the details, I just gathered my magic and touched The Boulder with the tip of my horn. The result was instantaneous; the side of the stone was turned into a smooth, faintly glowing surface.

“What the hell is that?” Marcus asked, leaning closer to look at it.

A sudden thunderous sound made me jump and I watched in terror how my friend fell forward and disappeared into the dark surface of the stone.

“Got ya.”

The hunter revealed himself, coming from behind a tree; he had a smoking pistol in his hand. I couldn’t move, paralyzed by fear. The man got closer to me with a mad grin appearing on his face. His evil dog was ready to pounce by his side.

I was thinking fast; I had nothing to lose in this situation. Marcus had fallen into the stone, which was most likely some kind of portal. I didn’t know what was there, but I had to risk everything to help him.

The hunter lowered his gun and reached his arm to grab me and at that moment I made my decision – I leaped into the unknown.

Part III - Chapter 7: Back to Equestria

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PART III

Chapter 7: Back to Equestria

After a short moment of feeling myself falling in the weightlessness, I got hit in the face by something solid. It was painful, but I ignored it – Marcus was all that was on my mind. I jumped up on my hooves and looked around for my friend.

In the little light I had, I saw him stirring on the floor near me. A weight fell off of my shoulders. Thank God Marcus was still alive. But I shouldn’t let myself relax just yet.

“Marcus?” I got closer to him and poked his shoulder. “Are you alright?”

“Never better…” he moaned. “What happened? Where are we?”

“You got shot by that guy, the hunter–” I started to say before being interrupted.

“That asshole…” Marcus cursed.

“And you fell into The Boulder, which is some kind of portal, I think,” I finished my short story.

Marcus lifted himself up, leaning on the hunter’s rifle and sat on the floor. He explored the room around us. I followed his example, wondering where the portal took us.

“It looks like some kind of weird lab,” Marcus shared his observations with me.

I agreed. A moonlight coming from the window allowed me to see the various tables with weird instruments on them and a lot of books. There were no computers in sight. In fact, the whole place looked medieval.

The strangest object here was the big mirror fixed on the rack behind us. It had the same strange surface as the rock we came through earlier, but it wasn’t as smooth. The cracks could be clearly seen on it.

Its glowing dimmed down before stopping completely. My reflection had appeared in the glass, but it was still too dark to see it properly. I carefully touched it with the tip of my hoof, expecting some kind of reaction, but got nothing. It had become just a regular mirror now.

Maybe it would react to my magic if I tried to do the same trick as I did with The Boulder, but I didn’t feel up to it. The hunter and his dog were probably waiting us on the other side, so it was a relief the portal had closed.

A moan of pain from Marcus distracted me from my thoughts. Turning back, I saw him lay on the floor again. Oh my gosh, he was wounded and I was wasting my time here!

“Wait here,” I told him, hurrying to find the way out. “I’m going to find some help.”

“You do that, Annie…” he answered in a weak voice.

I found the door but it was closed. Wrapping my foreleg around a big, wide handle the door had, I pushed it back and forth in frustration, but it didn’t budge an inch.

Turning my backside to the door, I kicked it with all my might. A loud crack made my ears flinch, but the door remained closed. I delivered a few more kicks, until the door finally broke open.

I wish I had a flashlight with me – I could barely distinguish a wide corridor outside with the weak moonlight shining from the windows.

Stepping out, I looked in both directions, trying to decide where to go next. It was dark all around, but I saw some light source on my right so it became my choice.

I carefully trotted forward, not daring to go for a full run in case I stumble over something. Soon the corridor ended and I found myself in a big room. The light source was hiding behind one of the pillars there.

A strange brown creature walked out from there, holding a lantern in its mouth. I gasped – it looked just like me! But after a moment I noticed some differences – the creature didn’t have a horn and was bulkier than me. It also wore a collar with a tie on his neck. It started to advance towards me and I backed up, drooping my ears in fright.

“What in Tartarus are you doing here?” the creature asked in a low, rough voice. “This building is closed for students.”

“I’m not a student,” I said, gathering all my strength to not shiver.

“Are you a burglar then?” chuckled the creature who I assumed was a guardian of this strange laboratory.

“My friend is hurt and he needs help!” I shot out at him, flicking my tail aggressively back and forth. I was more annoyed than afraid of him now.

“Damn students…” complained the guard. “Stick their muzzles where they don’t belong and then run crying to me. Lead the way, missy.”

I didn’t have the time to argue, so I just nodded curtly and walked back the way I came.

A crazy theory appeared in my head: we weren’t on Earth anymore. There were no talking horses there as far as I knew. Clearly, I had been changed into one of the locals. The guard even took me for a student, not recognizing me for the human I was a few days ago. I was sure these people could give some answers.

“That’s a room only a few ponies have access to,” commented the guard when we got to the room with the mirror portal. “You and your hurt friend are in trouble, missy.”

The guard was getting on my nerves, but he was the only one able to help Marcus, so I kept my harsh response to myself. I caught one word from his blabbering though – ponies. So that was how they call themselves.

I went into the room and the guard followed me, illuminating it with his lantern. Marcus looked up from the floor at the two of us; his face was pale. I couldn’t tear my eyes from his bloody hand that he was keeping on the side where his wound was.

“You’ve found a new friend, I see,” murmured Marcus, dropping his head back to the floor. “I hope he’s a doctor, because I feel like crap.”

The guard pony froze in place, glaring at Marcus. I guess, I should have expected that. If people saw someone like him in our world, they would have had a similar reaction. I hit my elbow impatiently on the guard’s side. He should help us first and then he could gape for as long as he wanted.

“My friends needs help, remember?” I reminded him.

“What in Tartarus is this monster?”

“He is my friend and you have to help him,” I repeated, writing off his insult as a result of surprise.

“I don’t know what you’ve done here, but you will be expelled for sure, missy,” the guard pointed an accusing hoof at me. That was the final straw.

“I’m not a student here!” I screamed back at him, batting his hoof away. “We both came from the other side of this portal!” I pointed my own hoof at the mirror.

“A portal, huh? That’s what those eggheads were doing here…” the guard appeared intrigued, but I was done wasting my time.

“If you won’t help us, then find someone who can,” I shot at him angrily. “My friend is bleeding here.”

“I suppose I really should,” the pony changed his attitude when he finally noticed the blood. He nodded in the direction of a locker on the wall with a red cross drawn on it. “There should be afirst-aid kit there. Use it to stop the bleeding while I bring some real help.”

Having said that, the guard pony turned around and left in a hurry, leaving me in the darkness again. Cursing inside, I rushed to the locker and opened it. There were bandages and a few bottles with some unreadable inscriptions written on them.

Ignoring the bottles – I didn’t want to poison Marcus unwittingly – I grabbed a bandage instead. I wasn’t sure if it was sanitary to hold it in my mouth, but I had no choice here. Bringing the bandage to Marcus, I laid it on the palm that he was reaching out.

He muttered a thanks and started to apply the bandage on his wound himself. I helplessly watched as my friend was struggling and grunting in pain while doing this task. I wished to help him with all my heart, but I knew it was impossible in my current pony form.

Soon Marcus was done; he leaned back on the floor with a tired sigh. Gently putting my hoof on his shoulder, I tried to reassure him:

“Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

“Of course,” Marcus agreed with bravado. “I’ve had worse.”

I snickered involuntarily – it was hard to imagine something worse than being shot and getting stuck in an entirely different world at the same time.

“Okay, maybe I haven’t,” he shrugged, realizing it too. “But it could be much worse.”

“Yeah...” I imagined what would happen if the hunter shot him with a rifle instead of a small pistol and shuddered inside. Good thing Marcus had taken it from him.

While waiting for the promised help, I tried to keep Marcus talking. I was afraid that he might lose his consciousness otherwise, so we discussed our current situation.

I told Marcus what I’d learned from the guard and he shared my conclusion about us being in a different world. It was the only way to explain the existence of ponies here. Even though we had seen just one so far, there were obviously much more around.

Suddenly my ear swiveled in the door’s direction, catching a sound of hooves getting closer. Judging by it, a lot of ponies were coming towards us. Marcus heard it too and we both looked there expectedly.

The first one to get into our view was the guard pony from before. Right behind him were a whole bunch of new ponies. Each of them had a different coat color and some of them even owned a horn, just like me. Even if I had some doubts before, they were gone now; I had definitely been transformed into the same species as them.

“There they are, Mister Rector,” the guard pointed his hoof on us.

A large, green pony with ruffled hair walked forward and studied us with his narrow stare. When the rector’s eyes fell on me though, they swung wide open.

“Sundae?” he gasped.

***

An hour later I was sitting in a very soft, comfortable chair in in Green Fields’ – the rector’s – luxurious office. That was what the pony was called. It was more of a collocation than a proper name, if if you asked me.

Marcus was taken to a local hospital. I was reluctant to let them take my friend away at first, but the pony doctor wearing a white hat with a red cross symbol explained that Marcus could have had a serious injury and they needed to treat him in a special facility.

He and his assistant brought a stretcher and put Marcus on it, embracing him with a strange glowing field. Their horns were glowing too in the process, so I understood they were using magic, but for a more refined task than I was in the hotel.

After they were gone, that Fields fellow took me to his personal office and told me the most shocking story I’d ever heard. He claimed that I was Sundae, a pony who had apparently disappeared six years ago in this world. The same mirror was involved in the whole mess, but it had been destroyed, so they thought Sundae was gone forever.

So I just sat there, dumbfounded, and didn’t know how to react. The story sounded awfully convenient and the timeline checked out, but I still couldn’t fully believe it. Had I really been a pony all along or was he just bamboozling me for some unknown reason?

No, that was silly. He certainly wouldn’t have planned for me to appear this night and come up with such a tale on the fly, since even I didn’t know I was going to be here. All I had wanted to do was to look at The Boulder in the forest. I had no idea it was actually a portal leading here.

“You really do not remember anything?” Fields asked again. He had repeated the same question a few times already, like he was doubting me.

I shook my head in sadness. Everything that was before six years ago was like surrounded by a stone wall inside of my mind. Even his story of my supposed origin didn’t spark any memories inside me.

“But you do remember what happened after you got through the portal?”

This time I had a story of my own to share. I told him a short version of my life after the loss of my memory. Fields became very curious when I mentioned that I had been a human until recently.

“They removed the transformation spell when they restored the mirror, but you’re the proof it actually works!” the pony hit the table in excitement. But then he sobered up. “Maybe it was a good decision though. The spell lost a few important bits of you after it wore off. I noticed your lack of a cutie mark, Sundae.”

I cringed, hearing that name. I was Annie, not some ice cream. I raised the issue to Fields and then asked him what a cutie mark was.

“Okay, Annie,” he said, emphasizing my name, “So you do not even remember what cutie marks are?”

“No,” I answered simply. “What if you’re wrong, Mister Fields? I’m just an ordinary human…I mean, I was one.”

“I knew Sundae personally,” said Fields. “She looked exactly like you. She was a bit older though, but that could just be the spell’s side effect.”

We sat in silence for a bit, each gathering their thoughts. Deep inside I felt the rector was telling the truth. It was the more logical explanation that I was a pony originally and was temporarily transformed to a human than that half-baked theory of Marcus’ and mine that I was somehow cursed by The Boulder.

Marcus! With all those new revelations I had almost forgotten about my friend. Enough time had passed; the doctor should be done already.

“I want to see my friend,” I said firmly, not ready to take ‘no’ for an answer.

“That is admirable, Sundae,” Fields looked at me apologetically. “But the hospital is closed for visitors at such a late hour.”

I was so frustrated that I ignored another slip with my name. My tail began to twitch in response to my feelings and Fields probably noticed something.

“I can ask someone to walk you to the hospital tomorrow,” he said. “I would go with you, but I have some business to attend to in the morning.”

My ears drooped – I was worried about Marcus. Despite his brave words, he didn’t look so good when the medical ponies took him. I hoped they knew how to take care of a human.

“I also need to send a letter to the Princess as soon as possible,” continued Fields. I raised my eyebrows in question.

“You have a princess here?”

“Four, to be exact,” nodded the pony. “But I am talking about one specific princess. She would be interested to hear about you and your friend. Our magic students wouldn’t be able to restore the mirror without her help.”

It wasn’t hard to guess that he was talking about the mirror portal. His title as a rector and all those mentions of students told me that we were in some kind of college for ponies, who apparently were the main species in this world.

“What is this place?” I asked to confirm my idea.

“The Canterlot College of Advanced Science,” Fields answered proudly. “You graduated from here yourself, Sundae.”

“Ah,” I frowned.

“I was one of your professors at the time,” continued Fields. “You were a pretty good student.”

I disliked his constant reminders of me being Sundae. Even if that was true, I was used to living as the human Annie and wanted to change into her again if that was possible. But based on how surprised he was to find out the transformation spell had actually worked, I didn’t have much hope.

With a sigh, Fields stood up from his chair and walked around the table that was separating us and towards me. I noted again how large the pony was. He put a hoof on my shoulder, trying to be reassuring.

“Do not worry, Sundae,” he told me in a soothing voice. “Your friend will be fine.”

I really wanted to believe in his words, but I couldn’t be sure until I saw Marcus myself. I threw a glance outside – it was still night. A big yawn emerged out of me and I couldn’t stop it.

“We have a free room in our dormitory here,” Fields said, noticing my tired state. “Let’s go, Sundae.”

I didn’t argue with that. I was pretty exhausted by today’s stressful events and my attempts at using magic, and since I couldn’t go to Marcus right now, I should at least get some sleep.

Fields was walking determinedly through the various passages of the College, clearly knowing the place well. I trotted behind him, letting out another yawn from time to time. The passages were brightly lit at night, unlike the corridor near the mirror portal.

It was more beautiful as well with its light-brown colored walls and occasional nature painting hanging between the torches. Our hooves were clopping on the wooden floor in unison. Fields opened a door at the end of the corridor and we walked outside.

A few buildings stood at a small distance from each other, separated by a green lawn. Fields led me to the closest one; it was built in a gothic style, with a lot of arches decorating the walls and had an impressive look overall.

Inside it looked much more modern, like a typical college dormitory. We passed a foyer, which was not so different from the one where I first stumbled into the annoying guard pony.

Another guard was sitting by the table here, reading a book in the dim light of his lamp. Fields gave him a greeting nod and waited for him to set the book aside.

“Yes, Mister Rector?”

“I need you to put this pony,” he pointed a hoof at me, “In one of your free rooms. Is it possible?”

“Of course, sir,” answered the guard pony. He took one of the keys from the half-empty rack on the wall behind him and made a gesture for me to follow him.

Having said my thanks to Fields, I went with the guard pony. The place we walked through could easily pass for a typical dormitory on Earth itself, if you ignored the torches.

The pony stopped by a door, which wasn’t any different from a long row of identical doors along the walls. He opened it with his key and invited me in.

“It’s the first time I see a new student being personally escorted by the rector himself in the middle of the night,” the pony said to me.

“I’m not a student,” I explained. I didn’t elaborate any further and the guard didn’t press me. He just shrugged nonchalantly and left, leaving me the key.

I closed the door behind him, but couldn’t lock it with the key. I recalled how the guard had done it seemingly easily, manipulating it just with his hooves alone. In the end, I decided not to bother at all; it was unlikely someone would try to break in here anyway.

The room I got was small, but cozy. It had two beds and a big wooden cabinet along one of its walls. There was also a pair of writing desks. Since it was a dormitory, I guessed it was for students to do their studying.

But the bed was interesting me most right now. I dropped on it, finally relaxing my tense body. I didn’t know how much time I had until morning, but I intended to use it fully. Curling up, I fell into a slumber.

***

A loud banging on my door woke me up, interrupting a nice dream I was having. My ears went flat against my head. I opened my eyes reluctantly, wishing that it would stop, but the bloody sound had disturbed me again.

“I’m coming,” I grumbled loud enough for it to be heard outside. “Give me a damn minute.”

I got out of bed and looked for my clothes, before my sleepy brain remembered that I didn’t have anything. But the few ponies I saw hadn’t worn much either, so it was unlikely to cause any problems.

The only thing that bothered me was how easy it was to see the parts I would have rather left hidden. My tail helped a little, but it wasn’t good enough. I preferred to keep my rump pointing in the opposite direction from Marcus since the embarrassing incident in the kitchen, when I had wanted him to cut my tail off.

But here it would be impossible. I expected to find a lot of ponies outside and I couldn’t hide it from everyone. I should ask someone if they had clothes for ponies in this world, but for now I just took a bedsheet and put it on my back. It was long enough to cover me down to my hooves.

“Come in,” I finally shouted to whoever was waiting outside.

The door opened and I frowned when I saw the annoying guard pony from yesterday. He wasn’t wearing his collar with a tie, but I recognized him by his coat color and tattoo of a lantern on his rump.

“Hello, Sundae, right?” he greeted me politely.

“My name is Anne, actually,” I corrected him coldly.

“Sorry for my behavior yesterday,” the pony told me, lowering his ears. “I thought you were just another student looking for trouble. But the rector explained the real situation to me, so I offered to guide you to the hospital after my shift as an apology.”

“Oh,” I didn’t know what to say at first. “It’s okay, I understand. Thank you.”

“My name is Stern Shield, by the way,” he said and looked curiously at the bedsheet covering my back. “Is that what ponies are wearing in your world?”

“There are no ponies in my world,” I told him. Although technically there were a lot of ponies, but I wasn’t in the mood to explain it in detail.

“Really? But what about you then?” Shield frowned in puzzlement.

“It’s a really long story,” I sighed. “I want to see if my friend is okay.”

“Sorry for bothering you,” the pony turned around and added: “Follow me.”

We trotted side by side along the corridor. A few ponies were going about their own business around us. They all varied in color and each had their own unique tattoo on their flank. Some of them were bigger and had a longer face than the others. I guessed they were males or, to use the more appropriate term, stallions.

“Why does everybody have a tattoo?” I asked my guide, making a gesture at his own picture of lantern.

“It’s not a tattoo,” he gave me a weird look. “It’s a cutie mark. Everypony gets them eventually.”

“I see,” I nodded. So it was a cultural thing. I’d heard of some tribes on Earth making a tattoo as a sign of adulthood; maybe it was something similar.

Soon we got outside, where even more ponies were trotting about. A few looked at me strangely and I soon realized the bedsheet I wore was just as eye-catching among the ponies as if I went naked on the streets of London.

“Do you ponies wear clothes?” I asked Shield, feeling my cheeks starting to burn red. I hoped it wouldn’t be too obvious because of my coat.

“Of course,” he answered, glancing at me and shaking his head in amusement.

We walked in silence for a while after that. Although I had a pretty good excuse being from another world, I didn’t want to appear dumb, asking stuff that everybody was supposed to know.

I was looking at the ground, trying to ignore the ponies around, and when I finally looked up, I froze in amazement. We were standing on a hill where the College was and the most beautiful city appeared before my eyes. It wasn’t very big by my London standards, but it looked much cleaner and healthier.

Most of the houses were built from white stone and it reminded me of some old European town. A large castle with a lot of towers dominated the view, which only added to my impression.

When I saw the ground far below behind the castle walls, I realized that he whole city stood on the side of a tall mountain. A river flowed out of the mountain behind us, curved through the city and fell to the ground, creating a waterfall.

I knew I was gaping like a clueless hick, but the city was too magnificent. It was straight out of a fairy tale.

“Welcome to Canterlot,” chuckled Shield.

“That’s breathtaking!”

“I know,” the pony nodded. “Follow me, the hospital is nearby.”

The mention of the hospital lowered my mood considerably, since I still didn’t know if Marcus was okay. I hoped for the best, but there was no telling until I saw him myself.

A paved road went down the hill in the city’s direction and we trotted on it with a fast pace. Noticing my worry, Shield was trying to distract me by talking about Canterlot.

From him I learned that it was the capital of Equestria. Mister Fields had already mentioned Equestria, but I didn’t know it was the country’s name. Two princesses ruled from here. He mentioned the existence of two more princesses, but told me they weren’t as important.

Shield asked me a few questions about my own world, but my answers were curt and uninformative. I hoped that he wasn’t upset by it; my thoughts were just elsewhere.

“Canterlot Central,” he pointed his hoof at the large building before us. A lot of ponies were constantly moving in and out from it. “I’ll show you inside and then I’ll leave. No offense, but I’m pretty tired after my night shift.”

I agreed with a nod. I was nervous about being left alone – I still didn’t know much about this world. But I couldn’t ask Shield to stay. He’d already helped me a lot and it would be rude of me to demand even more.

We walked into the foyer and I saw a small line formed in front of a counter. A lone unicorn mare was sitting there, looking for something in a big book.

“You should ask this mare about your friend,” Shield pointed at her with his hoof. “Good luck, Sundae.”

“Anne,” I corrected him once again. “And thank you.”

After this we parted ways. I joined the line behind a grey stallion with blue hair. He had a pair of wings, which caught my attention. It looked like I had found another type of pony, in addition to unicorns and “normal” ponies. I wondered if there were even more.

Standing behind him wasn’t comfortable for me. I was afraid that he would move his tail and I would see what was hiding underneath. But there was already another pony standing behind me, so I stayed in place to keep the spot.

Ten long minutes later it was finally my turn. The receptionist looked at me expectantly and I told her about Marcus, which made her ears perk up. By now I had learned it was a sign of attention or curiosity.

She opened the right page in her book at once and gave me Marcus’ whereabouts. As it turned out, he was the only non-pony patient currently in the hospital, so it was pretty easy to find him.

I thanked her and was on my way. He was put in the room on the 4^th floor, so my first step was to find some stairs. There weren’t any to be seen, so I decided to ask two unicorns, who were chatting while sitting on a bench nearby, since they appeared less busy than everybody else.

“Hello, em…gentlemen,” I addressed them, stepping closer. “Do you happen to know how to get to the upper floors?”

The ponies stopped their conversation and gave me a look over through their narrowed eyes. I didn’t like it at all.

“Why? Did you forget your way to the psych ward?” one of them asked mockingly and they both laughed.

“What?” my ears fell flat. “No.”

“You’re dressed like you did though,” the other pony added, bursting in a renewed fit of laughter.

How mean! I turned around sharply, wishing simply to disappear, but I was stopped by a hoof that was lying on my back. I felt my bedsheet slipping to the floor.

“Stop that!” I shot at them angrily, desperately trying to pick it off the floor, but my hooves were too clumsy and I couldn’t get a hold of it.

My exclamation brought the attention of ponies in the foyer. One of them, the grey pony with wings, had understood what was going on and advanced in our direction with a frown. The two mean unicorns left as soon as they noticed him.

The stallion that saved me picked up the bedsheet with his mouth and covered me with it. I let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank you!”

“I’m always happy to help a nice filly like you,” he answered with a graceful nod.

“Thank you,” I repeated, not knowing what else to say. If I remembered correctly, a filly was a young horse. So that probably was meant as a compliment.

“Can you tell me where the stairs are?” I asked with a blush on my face. The stallion explained the path in detail. Thanks to that, I found the stairs pretty quickly and climbed them.

My hooves were still shaking slightly after my encounter with the hooligans. First day in this new world and I already was attacked for dressing wrong. If I saw a person wearing a bedsheet in public, I would think they were weird too, but I would never say it out loud and most definitely wouldn’t mock that person.

I was slightly out of breath when I reached the top floor. There were no ponies in sight, which wasn’t surprising – according to the receptionist, the 4^th floor was reserved for non-pony creatures. I headed to the left like the receptionist had told me, looking for the right room number.

When I tried to read one though, I realized that the signs were written in an unknown language for me. That was weird, considering that I had zero trouble understanding the local speech.

Seeing no other way, I went from door to door looking for Marcus’ room, but every door I tried was locked. I kept trying until I reached an intersection where the corridor split in three different directions.

I saw a white stallion in gray, metal armor standing by the door on my right, so I trotted up to him to ask for help. I stopped a few feet short – after those two unicorns had made fun of me, I was afraid to ask strangers for help. The stallion looked down at me expectantly.

“Can I help you, miss?” there was no mocking in his tone, so maybe he wasn’t that bad.

“Can you tell me where room 45 is?” I asked timidly. “I’m looking for a friend.”

“Sure I can,” nodded the stallion. “I’m the one guarding it after all. So are you friends with the creature inside?”

“Marcus? Yes, he’s a good friend,” I told him defensively. “He’s not a monster.”

“I’m not saying he is, miss,” he made a pony equivalent of a shrug with one of his forelegs. “But I’m here to watch him just in case. You can enter.”

I burst into the room – not able to wait any longer – and finally saw Marcus lying on a large hospital bed. He was awake and looked well enough for a hug, so I gave him one immediately. He returned it with a wide smile.

“I’m so glad you’re alright!” I exclaimed, departing from his embrace.

“Told you it was just a scratch,” he waved his hand carelessly. “Local doctors are great, by the way. I saw them using real magic, just like you showed me back at the hotel, but way more advanced.”

I listened to my friend’s voice and the story he was telling. He didn’t have much to say though. He was made unconscious while pony doctors worked on him and he spent the rest of the time here, getting checked by a nurse a few times.

“So, what did that green horse tell you yesterday?” Marcus asked, sitting upright in the bed. “He was more surprised to see you than me, even though you look just like one of them.”

“They call themselves ponies,” I corrected him. “And you’re right; I look exactly like one of them. Apparently, a certain pony went missing six years ago…”

After having told Marcus about Rector Fields’ theory, he stared at the wall, deep in thought.

“It makes perfect sense,” he finally said. “A pony goes missing in this world and you wake up without memories in ours…”

“I know, but I don’t feel like a pony,” I told him, feeling my voice shake a little. “I want to be a human again.”

“These guys have magic here, Annie,” Marcus put a palm on my muzzle for some reason and rubbed it gently. “If your story is true, that means they can turn you into a human again.”

“I thought so too,” I sighed. “But the rector – that green pony you saw yesterday – told me it’s impossible now.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” said Marcus, caressing my ear now. I flinched it involuntarily.

“What are you doing?” I asked him cautiously, taking a step back.

“It’s just…You’re so soft…Your coat, that is,” he answered with an almost unnoticeable blush.

I didn’t know what to say, but there were times when actions spoke louder than words. I moved closer and reached out with a hoof, gently touching his cheek. Our faces slowly leaned closer and closer to each other. I shut my eyes with anticipation…

But nothing happened. I looked at Marcus in concern. He looked to the side with a troubled expression on his face.

“Sorry, Anne,” he said sharply. “I just can’t do that while you are a pony.”

Saying that I was saddened by his rejection would be the understatement of the year; I was heartbroken. All my earlier suspicions were true – I couldn’t be with Marcus as a pony. That was why I hated this new body! Or actually my old one, if I believed Fields’ story.

Marcus winced, noticing my reaction. I could see that he was upset too, but I didn’t care at that moment; all my emotions were in turmoil. I batted away his reaching hand and trotted to a window. Heavy silence hung in the room.

The view from the window was excellent. I tried to distract myself by studying houses and ponies on the street below, but it was pointless. My thoughts kept going back to the event.

We spent the entire following hour in silence. I was lying on the floor by the window and Marcus pretended to be sleeping, but I could see it for the act it was.

“Look, I’m sorry,” he finally said. “We can be friends for now, right?”

I was about to answer harshly when the door suddenly opened and Mister Fields trotted in with a smile. It faded when he saw our sullen faces though.

“Princess Twilight got my letter and has already sent me an answer,” the pony tried to justify his good mood.

“Really? That’s great,” I told him with faked excitement.

Fields nodded and turned his attention to Marcus, a polite smile appearing on his face again.

“Marcus, I presume? I’ve heard a lot about you,” Fields said. “My name is Green Fields.”

“Cut the crap, Fields,” Marcus answered angrily. I raised my eyebrows in surprise. “Am I a prisoner here or what?”

“Of course not,” Fields was taken aback by the sudden hostility. It was strange for me as well. Usually Marcus was polite even with the most tiresome clients in our store. His mood had to be really bad if he was acting this way.

“Don’t be silly, Marcus,” I told him, standing up on my hooves.

“It’s easy for you to say, pony,” he snapped right back at me. “I’m sure no one put an armored dude at your door.”

My eyes became wet from tears. Marcus’ remark really hurt me. It wasn’t my fault I had been turned into a pony.

“I never wanted to be a pony,” I retorted.

“But you are a pony,” Fields wedged into the argument. We both stared at him. “It’s true though. You have always been a pony.”

My ears drooped after he said it. I knew it was true, but it was still hard to accept it. That was why I decided to dismiss this fact altogether.

“I don’t remember it,” I stated. “It may never have happened as far as I’m concerned.”

“But your friends do remember you,” frowned Fields disapprovingly. “They took it pretty hard after finding out you were gone.”

That took me by surprise. I had never realized before that I could have had friends here, perhaps even a family. My real mum and dad were living somewhere in this world and they were ponies. The very concept of it was hard to grasp.

I got quiet and listened in to Fields’ and Marcus’ continuing conversation. My friend calmed down a bit and apologized for his outburst, but he still wanted to get an explanation about the guard.

“I’m just the College rector,” explained Fields. “I had to report you to the city and they decided to send a guard just in case. After all, you come from a different world and they have to make sure you’re friendly.”

“What if I don’t want to stay in a hospital?”

“I can arrange a room for you close to Sundae if you’re good enough to leave,” the pony told him with a shrug. “I’m sure the guard won’t mind.”

“Just not in the same room as me,” I put in my own two cents and got an annoyed glance from Marcus, but he made no comments.

I felt a brief pang of guilt, but quickly suppressed it. It wasn’t Marcus fault that he didn’t like me as a pony – I didn’t like it myself – but he upset me. The last few days had given me hope that there might still be something between us, but he had crushed it. I needed some time alone to think.

Fields left soon saying he had things to do, promising to return in the evening. He asked us to remain here for the time being, since Princess Twilight was going to arrive by a train today and we were going to meet her together on the station.

The thought of meeting the local royalty so soon made me nervous, but it was a welcome distraction from my heavy thoughts. Although Shield had said earlier that she had become a princess not long ago and wasn’t as important as the royal sisters. I wondered if there was a queen or king above them, but nobody had mentioned one so far.

We spent the rest of the day practically without talking to each other. Marcus tried to make some small talk, but I wasn’t in the mood so he stopped the attempts quickly.

I got out and explored the hospital, not able to stay in that room with him anymore. It was a strange mix of medieval and modern technologies with X-rays and candles found in the same place. Not a lot of ponies could be found in the corridors, which was a good thing for me. Seeing them just reminded me that I was a pony too.

When I returned back to the room, I saw Marcus outside having a conversation with the guard pony. They were discussing if my friend was allowed to leave the hospital if he wanted to. The guard confirmed that Marcus was free in his movements as long as he stayed by his side.

“You can’t leave now,” I told him at once. “We must wait for Fields to return.”

“Don’t jump to conclusions, Anne,” he said, giving me a stern look. “I’m not going anywhere right now.”

I flicked my tail in annoyance and trotted into the room. I could tell that Marcus was upset by my behavior, but I couldn’t stop myself. I wanted to be more than a friend to him and my pony body was a hindrance that should be dealt with.

***

We stood at the platform of Canterlot’s train station and waited. Our group had arrived here to meet the Princess. Marcus got a lot of stares walking through the city and I was glad not to be the center of attention.

There were plenty of other ponies around, but they kept their distance. Marcus was towering over everyone. Being the same height as the ponies around me, I understood how intimidating it could be.

Only the sight of the guard in his armor along with us put pony minds at ease. He represented authority for them and if he didn’t worry, they shouldn’t be afraid of the strange creature either.

“Here it is,” Fields pointed his hoof into the distance. I narrowed my eyes and saw it myself: the train was coming right on schedule.

From what Fields had told me about Princess Twilight, I reckoned she was my only hope. The restoration of the Mirror had been possible thanks to her wide knowledge of magic, so if anybody knew how to turn me into a human again, it would be her.

I threw a glance at Marcus and suppressed a sigh. Fields had noticed a tension between us while we were in the hospital, but he didn’t know the reason. He warned us not to argue in front of the princess though.

I switched my attention to the incoming train. It was a steam locomotive; the type I had only seen in old books. The purple color made it look like some neat toy. The train slowed down gradually and came to a full stop right beside the platform.

The door opened and a stream of ponies rushed outside all at once. Some of them shrieked in fright, almost stumbling into Marcus, but most of them were too busy to get away to notice anything past their muzzle. I understood why – it would be a chore to be inside the train for long in such a hot weather.

Two mares separated from the general crowd and approached us. They both were unicorns of similar lavender color but I could tell them apart by their different hairstyles. The lighter-shaded one had purple, curly hair with an azure line in it, while her friend possessed simple indigo hair with a purple streak. A lot of ponies had more than one color there, it seemed.

I was confused when I noticed wings on the pony. All of the ponies I had seen had either a horn or wings or none of it. I guess I had found another type.

Fields’ reaction to their appearance added to my confusion. He bowed to the winged pony and gave a respectful nod to her companion. But she looked like an ordinary pony. Was she the princess we’d been waiting for?

“It’s an honor to have you here, Princess Twilight,” Fields said, confirming my guess.

“Thank you,” the Princess nodded. “It’s an informal visit, so you don’t have to call me Princess. Just Twilight is fine.”

I expected her at least at wear a crown. She didn’t even have Royal Guards around her! Maybe ponies in Equestria had a different concept of royalty than Britain. After a short greeting exchange, Fields introduced us to Twilight.

“I’m so glad to see you,” Twilight smiled, addressing Marcus. “We spent months trying to get that portal working!”

“Eh, thanks, I guess,” my friend answered, looking at his boots uncertainly.

“Oh, how tactless of me,” Twilight lowered her ears slightly. “Fields wrote me that you and your friend got here by accident. You probably want to return home as soon as possible.”

“We did,” confirmed Marcus and looked at me. “We were looking for a way to change my friend back to a human, but as Mister Fields here told us she’s been a pony all along.”

I decided that it was as good a time as any to ask a question that was burning in my mind.

“Can you do it, Princess?” I asked, trying to keep the desperation out of my voice. “Can you cast some spell to make me a human again?”

“But you’re a pony, Sundae” Twilight’s companion interjected before she could answer. “Why do you want to be a human?”

Twilight elbowed her and gave her a meaningful look.

“This is my student Starlight Glimmer,” she introduced her companion with a faint smile. “But to answer your original question, Sundae – it’s not that easy. Every transformation via a spell is temporary. How long it would last depends on its quality and strength, but only a great wizard like Starswirl the Bearded would be able to make a spell that would last for years. You were a human for six years until the spell started to deteriorate, is that correct?”

Having said this out loud I realized that I wasn’t being completely honest with them. All my life I had wanted to find out who I used to be before I had lost my memories and now, when I finally did, I wasn’t ready to just throw it away.

But me and Marcus would never be together if I stayed a pony. Just one look at his face was enough to steel my resolve. I must become a human again whatever it takes.

Part III - Chapter 8: Friendship Problems

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Chapter 8 – Friendship Problems

We didn’t linger on the platform any longer – Twilight invited us all to Canterlot Castle and Fields excused himself again. The princess promised to send Marcus home as soon as possible. She even offered me and Marcus to stay in the castle while she went to the College and tried to activate the Mirror portal.

I, on the other hand, was going to stay in Equestria much longer. Unlike Marcus, I couldn’t just hop into the portal and come back out on the other side – I had to become a human first. Twilight was sure she could do it – eventually.

According to her, she could turn me into a human right now, but she would have to renew the spell each hour so it wouldn’t wear off. Starswirl’s spell that he had woven into the Mirror’s magical structure fed off of powerful interdimensional energies.

“So the main problem with that method is that you have to actually be between two dimensions for the spell to work,” explained Twilight, leading us to the castle through Canterlot’s busy streets, “But even Starswirl didn’t get it right the first time. His next attempt was more successful though–”

“Wait a minute, are you saying there is another Mirror?” Marcus interrupted her. “Eh…Sorry for interrupting, Your Highness.”

“You can just call me Twilight, please,” she said. “We’re not on some official meeting or anything. And I’m happy to answer your question! Yes, there is another Mirror, but it leads to a completely different world, believe me.”

Marcus asked some questions about that world and the two started a lively discussion. Twilight told him that there was another dimension with humans in it, though they looked much different from Marcus.

I stopped listening to them pretty soon. What was the point? Twilight had told me that it was impossible for me to become a human again in the near future and Marcus looked like he only cared about returning home, wishing to abandon me.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Starlight put a hoof on my withers in concern.

“Nothing,” I answered sharply, but then looked at her apologetically. “Sorry…I’m just a little upset.”

“I understand. You don’t want to be a pony,” nodded Starlight. “But really it’s not that bad.”

I flicked my ear in annoyance. She didn’t understand me. I didn’t think being a pony was so bad. I kind of liked the ability of using magic and I wanted to learn more about it. But at the same time, I was afraid of losing Marcus if I stayed that way for long. I knew he liked me more as a human.

“Why are you wearing a bedsheet, Anne?” Starlight asked after a while.

“I don’t want to appear naked in public,” I answered and looked at her naked flank. “Although I see that you ponies don’t have a problem with that.”

“Yes,” the pony agreed. “I noticed your human friend is fully clothed. But you don’t have to wear a bedsheet, you know. I can give you my jacket. My friend Rarity made me pack it when she found out where I was going, but you need it more than me.”

“Really? It would be nice,” I was curious to try on some real pony clothes. A bedsheet clearly wasn’t supposed to be worn – it was almost slipping off my back and I had to adjust it constantly.

We were finally approaching the Castle. Up close it looked even more impressive and even a little intimidating. A tall stone wall surrounded it, but the gates were wide open. Two guards who looked just the same as the one following Marcus around were guarding it. The only difference was the color of their armor – it was golden instead of the metal gray of our guard.

He was still there, by the way. Twilight tried to dismiss him, saying that she would take care of Marcus if he suddenly went berserk, but the guard was unshakable. He claimed that he couldn’t leave until his captain gave the order. At least he offered to carry a bunch of bags that the Princess and her companion had with them as an apology.

The castle guards were more agreeable though. Twilight approached them and waved and they let us all in without question, only throwing a side glance at Marcus. Directly behind the gate was a nice paved road among the trees.

“The Royal Garden,” Twilight explained to us. “It goes all around the castle. The oldest tree here is exactly 238 years old – that was when the Garden was founded by Princess Celestia.”

“Very interesting fact,” commented Starlight with a smile, though I noticed a tiny note of sarcasm in her voice. But Twilight seemed to miss it.

“Exactly,” she nodded happily. She shared a few more “interesting” facts on our way to the castle, but only Marcus seemed to listen. They went forward while Starlight and I stayed behind them along with the guard that was following us.

Soon we got inside and appeared in a large hall. A crimson rug under our hooves followed up the flight of stairs opposite to the entrance. Two stained-glass windows decorated the wall over the stairs’ landing: the left one pictured a sunny sky, the right one showed the night sky. Giant colorful flags hung on the walls, making the hall seem brighter. It was magnificent.

Twilight led us to the side archway and after a long walk through the corridors of the royal castle, we finally stopped by a fancy door.

“This is my room,” she told us, opening the door. “I always stay here when I visit Canterlot.”

“Must be nice to have your own room in the castle,” Marcus commented.

“It saves a lot of money on hotels for sure,” agreed Twilight with a smile. “They’re awfully expensive here in Canterlot.”

“But you’re a princess,” Marcus said thoughtfully. “In our world that usually means you’re rich.”

“I have money, but it doesn’t mean I should throw it around foolishly,” Twilight answered with a little frown.

“Who wasted a hundred bits on that book just a few weeks back?” Starlight poked her on the side teasingly.

“It was a very interesting book,” the Princess blushed noticeably and snuck into her room before Starlight could say anything else. We all followed inside, except for the guard, who dropped their bags into the room and took his position by the door.

The room was nice, but it didn’t have the royal feel to it; instead, it felt like a working office. The furniture was of the highest quality, albeit very simple, without anything fancy. Practical – that was how I would describe the room. Twilight jumped on the couch and invited us to join.

“I can get a few more beds in here and you all are welcome to stay until tomorrow. It’s getting late,” she said, looking both at me and Marcus. “But we have some time to talk until then. I would be delighted to hear about your world!”

“What would you like to know?” asked Marcus, leaning back.

“Oh, I prepared a whole list of questions on the train,” a long scroll flew out of Twilight’s bag and levitated in front of her.

That was an impressive use of magic and I knew I could learn it too. After all, I blasted a dog into the bushes back at the forest; how hard would it be to move a paper scroll? While Marcus was answering a row of various questions, I decided to ask Starlight if she could explain to me how to use levitation.

“It’s pretty easy,” she lifted a table off the floor and spun it around before putting it back in place, invoking a disapproving stare out of Twilight. “We’d probably better go out there.” She went to the far end of the room, levitating two chairs along. We both sat down on them comfortably.

“I know you don’t remember anything about your past, so let me ask something first: have you already tried to summon your magic?”

“I have, actually,” I said with pride. “I was attacked in our world – the human world – and was saved by an energy field. It blocked the dog that was trying to hurt me. That’s how I figured out I could do magic.”

“So, a shield spell, huh?” Starlight raised her eyebrows. “It’s impressive. Not every unicorn can pull it off.”

“Really?” I was surprised as well. “It just happened on its own. I tried to do it again later, but nothing happened. I managed to smash a lamp into the wall though.”

“Good. It means you already know how to channel your magic,” Starlight leaned closer to me and levitated a feather onto her hoof. She put it on the floor in front of my chair. “Come on, try to move it, but don’t channel too much magic. You need just a tiny drop here.”

That sounded simple enough. I settled in the chair comfortably and closed my eyes, concentrating on the task. My horn started to charge up with magic; I felt it growing hotter by the second.

“You can stop now,” Starlight said, seeming a bit worried. “Hold the magic in your horn and use it to move the feather.”

I tried to follow her instructions and carefully released just a tiny bit of energy, but instead of a small push, I blew the feather away. In my defense, the feather was very light. Holding magic in my horn was pretty exhausting – I was sweating under my improvised dress.

“That’s good,” Starlight nodded in approval. “You definitely have the strength, but you need to work on the finesse. Also, don’t summon as much magic as you’re doing if you’re not going to use it.”

Heeding her advice, I relaxed and slowly released my hold on the magic, letting it dissipate without any dangerous discharge. Starlight sat back in relief after I’d done that.

She explained to me what I had done wrong and another try proved more successful. Turns out the more magic you summoned for the task, the harder it was to control it. Now I could keep the feather in the air and even move it in circles. It felt almost like holding it with my hand. A happy smile grew on my face.

“You’re making progress, Anne!” Starlight smiled back. “I would be happy to teach you some more, but I’m afraid I won’t have the time. I have some business in town tomorrow that might take a while.”

“Oh…” I dropped my ears slightly. Doing magic was about the only thing I liked about being a pony and talking about it with Starlight distracted me from some heavier thoughts.

I threw a glance at Marcus – he was still answering Twilight’s endless questions. She was asking a lot about our culture, our country and even wanted to know about magic in our world. Marcus explained to her that it didn’t exist there as far as he knew.

“Aren’t you curious about our world too, Starlight?” I asked, looking at the pony before me.

“I am,” Starlight said, biting her lip. “It’s just…”

Something was clearly bothering her. I encouraged her to go on with a friendly nod. Starlight drew a deep breath and said:

“You see, the Map has sent me to Canterlot to solve a friendship problem for the first time. I’m afraid that I’m going to mess up somehow.”

“The Map?” I repeated the word in confusion.

After Starlight’s short but informative explanation, I understood what she’d meant. Apparently, there was a magical Map in Twilight’s castle that sometimes sent ponies on missions to solve a problem. There was one catch – the map showed you an approximate location, but you had to find the exact problem on your own.

“I can keep you company if you want,” I offered to Starlight and she eagerly accepted.

Marcus planned to go to the College with Twilight. She wanted to examine the portal to see if it could be reopened again, but I had no desire to go near that thing. What was the point if I couldn’t go through it anyway?

I was also a little disappointed in my friend. He appeared so ready to just leave without me. He was basically abandoning me in this unknown world. Of course, Marcus had no obligation to help me – he had already helped me more than I could have hoped for. Maybe that was his limit.

“Eh…Anne?” Starlight tapped my shoulder a few times. “Are you okay?”

“What? Yes, sorry,” that was why I needed to get away from Marcus for some time to clear my head. Seeing him just reminded me that we couldn’t be together.

“No, I can see that something is wrong,” Starlight narrowed her eyes. Lowering her voice, she continued: “It’s hard to ignore all those stares you’re giving your friend here. You two also haven’t exchanged a word since you’ve met us.”

“That’s none of your business,” I said more sharply than I had intended. “We just had a little argument, that’s all.”

Starlight drooped her ears and I immediately felt guilty. Just because I had some problems with Marcus I shouldn’t be rude to people – ponies – trying to help.

To distract myself, I started to play with the feather, making it fly in the air. After a while, Starlight suggested I try to lift something heavier with my magic, like the chair she was sitting on.

The difference between the two objects was obvious. I was grunting and straining myself, but the chair barely twitched. I recalled in frustration at how easily Starlight had carried two of them at the same time earlier. Now she looked at my tries with a smile of amusement.

After my failed attempt, Starlight revealed me a secret. The heavier an object, the more magic I had to use to move it. Well, she could have told me that before my pointless struggle with a chair.

“Annie, can you join us?” Marcus asked out of blue. “Twilight wants to ask how you activated the portal from our side.”

I jumped off the chair and went to them. I deliberately chose a spot on the couch that was close to Twilight and far from Marcus to get some reaction. He didn’t appear to notice anything.

“Marcus has told me you touched The Boulder with your horn and the portal appeared. Were you doing some kind of spell?” Twilight asked.

“I doubt it,” Starlight threw in, jumping on the couch by my side. “She doesn’t know any spells yet. I just taught her some basic levitation.”

“Well, she managed to get us here, so she must have done something,” Marcus mumbled under his breath, but I’d heard it.

“Don’t say it like it’s my fault!” I exploded at him with a furious snort.

“Whoa,” he threw up his hands. “I didn’t mean it that way.”

I already felt ashamed for my outburst. I guess I was much more upset with Marcus than I had realized. Twilight opened her mouth in surprise – for her this had come completely out of nowhere. Starlight, on the other hand, put a hoof on my back, stroking it gently.

“Sorry about that, everyone,” I mumbled, looking down.

“What’s gotten into you, Annie?” Marcus asked with a confused frown on his face.

Seeing it made me mad again. He didn’t even understand why I was upset with him! Was he expecting me to be jumping for joy after he had rejected my kiss and crushed my hopes?

“You lied to me!” I pointed an accusing hoof at him. “You claimed to like me, but you don’t! You want to leave me here alone!”

“You’re being unreasonable, Anne,” he spread his arms, shaking his head. “I really like you, but you…you’re not a human anymore. We can’t be more than friends.”

I opened my mouth to make a retort, but Starlight’s hoof stopped me. He continued with a nod of thanks to her.

“And I’m not leaving you alone. Twilight here –” the pony in question raised her hoof “– assured me that she would take care of you, while she researched some transformation spells in case you still want to become a human again. I helped you to get here and find the truth about who you are. But I wish to return home now.”

“What your friend is saying is true,” Twilight patted me on the back gently. “I will help you both return home. I feel like it’s kind of my fault anyway because I was the one who helped to restore the Mirror.”

“Don’t blame yourself,” Marcus said. “If it weren’t for you, Annie would have been stuck there as a pony with no hope. At least now she knows what’s going on.”

I felt deflated like a punctured balloon. Tears streamed down my face as I sunk it into my forelegs, wetting them. I realized that I had been overreacting all that time. I let my emotions control me and turn me against my friend, who’d only wanted to help me.

I sniffed and lifted my head up to look at Marcus, blinking hard to clean out the remaining tears. We looked each other in the eyes. It was time to apologize. To my surprise, he started first.

“I’m sorry, Annie. You’re a good friend and I don’t want to lose that.”

I let out a heavy sigh. I didn’t want to lose Marcus as a friend either. The problem was that I wanted him to be more than a friend. It would be better to suppress my feelings for the time being. Or at least try to.

“I’m sorry too,” I said, breaking the eye contact. I just couldn’t handle it right now.

“Buck,” Starlight murmured behind me, ruining the moment.

Everyone in the room turned their heads in her direction to see her looking at her flank. She tore her gaze from it and smiled at us shyly.

“I just thought that since you two have solved your friendship problem, my mission would be over. But I guess it’s something else.”

“To be honest, they solved this problem mostly on their own,” Twilight shrugged. “The Map sends you only when your direct involvement is absolutely necessary.”

“Huh?” Marcus voiced his puzzlement.

I retold Marcus what Starlight had explained to me earlier about the Cutie Map, but there was something I still didn’t quite understand.

“How do you know when the mission is over?” I asked the question that was bothering me. “Is there supposed to be some magical signal?”

“In a way, yes,” nodded Starlight. “My cutie mark should glimmer if the Map’s quest is finished.”

“Your cutie mark? I thought it was just some tattoo that everybody got.”

“Everypony,” Twilight corrected me. “And a cutie mark is much more than that. You’re right that everypony gets one, but it’s not a tattoo – it’s a magical symbol representing your special talent. It appears on its own when a pony discovers it.”

“If everypony gets one, then where is Annie’s mark?” Marcus pointed at my blank flank and looked at Twilight for an answer.

“Green Fields mentioned this in his letter to me,” Twilight said. “He thinks it’s the result of a bad transformation spell and I think he’s right. I’m afraid you may have lost it forever.” She looked at me, drooping her ears.

“What if it’s stuck somewhere in the Mirror?” Starlight suggested with a hint of embarrassment in her voice. “Similar to what happened, you know, at my old village?”

“That’s a good idea, Starlight,” Twilight smiled at her. “I will check it out tomorrow.”

We talked some more about cutie marks before it got completely dark outside and Twilight suggested we should rest. I went to sleep feeling good that Marcus and I had talked out our problems, but at the same time I was upset we had remained just friends and nothing more. I suppressed these thoughts.

Twilight could send him home tomorrow and I’d stay here for a while until Twilight found a way to turn me back into a human, but I shouldn’t waste my time going around feeling bitter at Marcus because of that. He was a good friend and would be an even better boyfriend one day, I was sure of it.

***

I woke up from the sound of Twilight leaving the room. Everyone else was still asleep, so I got up, trying to be as quiet as possible.

Marcus was sleeping close-by on the couch, even though Twilight had offered to get a bed for him, like she had done for me and Starlight. The pony was snoring from her own bed at the other end of the room.

I wandered around the room purposelessly, thinking about what the new day would bring. Starlight had promised me to take me along on her mission to find the friendship problem, and I intended to use it to distract myself.

Twilight returned soon with a bag stuffed with books and saw me.

“Sundae…I mean, Anne,” she said, stumbling over my name, “Good morning. I brought along a few books that could help me with the mirror, as you can see.”

There were much more than a “few” books that I could see in her saddlebag, but I decided not to mention it.

“Good morning,” I nodded to her. “Do you think you’ll send Marcus home today?”

“Honestly, I don’t know,” Twilight answered in slight concern. “We’ve tried everything to make the portal work before, but for some reason it didn’t work. I hope whatever you did in your world has fixed this problem.”

At this point, the others started to wake up too. Starlight crawled out of her bed and stretched like a cat. She walked up to us.

“Morning, everypony,” Starlight said. “Are you ready to go, Annie?”

“Right now?” Twilight raised her eyebrows in surprise. “But we haven’t even had breakfast.”

“We’re going to grab something to eat in town if that’s okay with Annie.”

I gave her a nod, showing that it was fine. I realized that I’d eaten almost nothing yesterday except for grabbing something in the hospital; my stomach grumbled to remind me of that fact.

“Before we go, though…” Starlight levitated her large bad towards her and took something out. It was a sky-blue jacket of a strange shape. I guessed it was designed specifically for a pony’s body. “I promised to give you this, so you don’t have to wear your bedsheet all the time.”

“Oh, thanks, Starlight,” I pretended to be excited.

The jacket looked nice and stylish, but I wanted something like a skirt to cover the back part of my new body. I was sure that those ponies wouldn’t understand my issue though, so I just put on the jacket with Starlight’s help without saying anything.

She showed me to a mirror and it looked gorgeous on me, so I had nothing to complain about.

“Wow,” I leaned closer to the mirror to see the jacket better. “It looks very expensive.”

“It probably is,” agreed Starlight. “Rarity makes some great stuff, but I got this one for free as a gift. I want you to have it now.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Clothes are not really my style,” Starlight waved her hoof dismissively. “It would probably lie in my saddlebag forever anyway.”

I admired the jacket in the mirror some more and then we finally went out. I decided to leave the bedsheet that I had worn yesterday in the room, not wishing to upset Starlight. It was a lot of trouble wearing the slippery thing anyway. If I was going to stay here for the time being, I had to follow the local customs.

There was no guard outside of our room – the pony who had followed us all day had finally left us alone. His superiors probably decided that Marcus was trustworthy if the princess herself thought so.

I followed Starlight out of the castle and into the city. Soon we were trotting through the streets of Canterlot. According to Starlight, it was hard to find some good food in Canterlot because of a new weird food trend that more and more restaurants had followed, but she knew a good place for a snack, though it was pretty far from the castle.

Starlight explained to me the basics of magic as we walked. She told told me about some of the awesome spells she could do and the most amazing thing about all that was that I could learn to cast them. At least in theory.

She warned me that it wasn’t easy. In fact, most unicorns lived their whole lives not bothering to learn more than a few basic spells. Starlight offered to teach me a thing or two while I stayed in this world, but I wasn’t sure how to respond.

What was the point of learning all that if I was going to be turned into a human and lose all those awesome magic abilities I had – I shook my head to shake off these thoughts. I shouldn’t doubt my desire to be a human. I shared my thoughts with Starlight.

“You should be ready for any turn of event,” she said, carefully watching my reaction. “Even if Twilight manages to make a spell powerful enough to turn you into a human for a long time, it wouldn’t be permanent – no transformation spell is. You would have to come back here to renew it.”

“I’m ready for that,” I said determinedly, hiding the doubt I had.

“Well, okay then…”

We switched to other topics after that. Starlight told told me a little about Twilight. She sounded like a great pony, which could be confirmed by my own observation of her.

She and her friends had saved Equestria from a lot of dangerous threats even before she had become a princess. Starlight had been one of those enemies once, she mentioned briefly.

I was very surprised to hear that, since she looked like a pretty nice pony so far and I had a hard time imagining her being on the same level as some powerful monsters. I asked for more, but Starlight was reluctant to tell, so I decided not to press on the obviously painful issue.

“How far is your place?” I asked a more casual question after my stomach grumbled again.

“Relax, we’re almost there,” Starlight pointed her hoof at the long row of restaurants with a three-hoof sign hanging over them.

I trotted forward happily and turned towards the first one I saw, but Starlight stopped me and led me past all of them into a small alley. I looked at the restaurants longingly, but I followed Starlight anyway – she probably knew better.

The sight in front of me was not disappointing. It was a much more colorful building than the ones on the main street, which all looked the same. Orange walls were covered by a yellow pattern, which gave the restaurant an Indian appearance. An elephant head drawn over the entrance door added to the impression.

“You have elephants in here?” I asked in surprise, looking at the picture.

“Of course,” answered Starlight like it was the most obvious thing, “Well, not exactly here, they actually inhabit the lands pretty far on the east. But I suppose you meant our world.”

I nodded. If our worlds had animals that looked the same, it could mean only one thing – we were in some parallel world. Maybe evolution here went differently and ponies – rather than humans –had become the dominant species. Then I remembered mentions of other species as well, but it didn’t change my conclusion.

“How many sapient species do you have in your world?” I asked out of curiosity.

“Let me see,” Starlight said thoughtfully, leading me into the restaurant. “We have ponies, obviously. There are also gryphons, dragons, minotaurs…Twilight would probably remember them all, but I would have to look it up. There are a lot of them.”

“Wow,” was my reaction. In our world we had only humans. Though there were curious legends about each of the mentioned creatures, which supported my theory. Maybe our world had had them too a long time ago, but they had been forgotten and only legends and myths had remained…

We settled on the table by the window without trouble, since we were the only guests at this place. A dark orange pony with a brown mane and a sad expression, changing into a smile at our sight, approached us.

“My name is Saffron Masala,” the pony introduced herself. “I’m the chef here at The Tasty Treat, the most exotic cuisine in Canterlot. Would you like to make your order?”

“We’ll have two of your curried oat cakes,” Starlight said after asking me if that was okay. I didn’t mind, since I didn’t know what the local ponies ate.

The order arrived soon and we talked about my life in the human world while eating a delicious oat cake. Starlight was curious to hear about my life there at first and I tried to answer her questions honestly.

“So it was pretty boring,” Starlight summarized my life story. “Sorry, that sounded a little rude.”

“It’s okay, you’re right anyway,” I shrugged calmly. “It was the reason why I always liked fantasy books.”

“If that’s so, why do you want to return so badly?”

I couldn’t answer her question immediately. Really, why? If I stopped to think about it, there was nothing for me but my hated work at the store. The only good thing there were my foster parents and Marcus. I realized that didn’t that I didn’t mind being a pony quite as much as I had done yesterday, when Marcus and I had been fighting.

“I guess Marcus is the reason…” I said slowly, analyzing my emotions. “I’ve always liked him, but we were just friends. But then we went on our first date together and he said he’d always liked me too. It was the same day I was changed into a pony. We can’t be more than just friends while I’m a pony.”

“You shouldn’t change who you are because of that,” Starlight told me. “If he doesn’t want you as a pony, it’s his loss.”

I shrugged noncommittally. Maybe she was right. We finished the pie and Starlight ordered me a new one because I was still hungry.

“You said earlier that you have no memories of your past,” Starlight looked at me and I confirmed it with a nod. “What if you got them back?”

Getting my memories back was something I had always wanted, until I had found out the truth about my past. Now I was a little scared by the possibility.

“I don’t know,” I told her with a sigh. “The doctors told me they would return eventually, but even after six years have passed I still don’t remember anything.”

“But that wasn’t really your world,” Starlight smiled. “There was nothing to trigger your memory. Perhaps if you met some of your old friends…”

My old friends, right. Mister Fields had told me that a few of them had been on the expedition with me, when I was sucked into the mirror. He also mentioned that I wasn’t the only one to get into the mirror, but the other pony had managed to return before it was too late. She recovered later, but quit the job and he had never heard from her again.

“I’m not sure about that,” I shook my head in doubt.

“Why not?” Starlight looked at me in confusion.

I didn’t want to share my fears, so I just shrugged instead, finishing the last bits of my curried oat cake.

“It’s worth a try at least,” Starlight told me decisively.

She called the chef and paid up for our pies, preparing to leave.

“Tell your friends about our place if you liked it!” Saffron called out to us when we were at the door.

We both nodded to her reassuringly and went outside. Starlight trotted forward determinately with me trying to keep up behind her.

She explained her plan to me on the way. As I had expected, Starlight wanted me to meet one of my old friends, but to do that we had to find out her name first. Mister Fields was just the pony who would know such a thing, since he had known me in the past.

Soon we were on an uphill road that I immediately recognized as the one leading to the College. I looked back to once again enjoy the view of Canterlot. It was still as amazing as yesterday. Starlight stopped to wait for me to catch up.

We went straight for the main building of the College, trotting past the student ponies. No one was giving me a weird look now that I had ditched my bedsheet. Instead, some ponies even looked at my fancy jacket with some admiration.

Starlight obviously knew the way to Mister Fields’ office, probably because she had visited here with Twilight before. Thankfully, the pony was at his workplace when Starlight knocked on his door.

“Go in, it is open,” a grumpy voice answered from the inside.

Fields’ annoyed expression changed to a smile when he saw Starlight and me though.

“Ah, Ms. Glimmer and Sundae,” he stood up from his chair to greet us. “It is good to see you. Your human friend and the princess were here just before you.”

Starlight shook his hoof and I repeated her action as well.

“Actually, we’re here to talk about something else,” Starlight said. “We want to know about some of Sundae’s old friends.”

“Ah, I wondered if you would,” he said, settling back on his chair. He opened a drawer and took a piece of paper out. “I wasn’t very close to you, Sundae, but I remember your friends from the expedition. I’ve only managed to find one so far.”

I looked at the list and saw just one name – Blue Ruby – and a line with the address. That name was not ringing any bells. Perhaps I should meet that pony in person to remember anything.

“That’s very helpful of you, Fields,” nodded Starlight approvingly. “Thank you.”

“Always happy to help,” he smiled.

***

We went straight for the place in the address after finishing our short meeting with Mister Fields, though we made a quick visit to Twilight in the Mirror lab on the way. She was there with Marcus, who looked bored and didn’t even notice us at first. Starlight told her about her plan, at which Twilight answered with a hmm.

Now that we were coming closer to the address, I was getting more nervous with each step. Soon I would meet a friend that I didn’t remember; I was afraid of upsetting her if I didn’t recognize her. She probably didn’t even know I was alive.

I took notice of how I was referring to Sundae as myself already. It meant I was starting to really accept that I had been a pony in the past. For god’s sake, I was a pony right now! Everyone in this world knew me as a pony, but I still felt like a human inside, though not as strongly as before. I wondered if that would change if my memories returned.

Starlight, on the other hoof, appeared excited. Her trot was full of energy. She probably thought that my situation was the friendship problem she had been sent to solve. And seeing how troubled I was – she may be right.

The address was on the other side of Canterlot, so it took us some time to reach it. The quarter was worse off than the rest of the city. Some houses here were in poor condition, with boarded up windows; the paved road that we were walking on was missing a lot of stones.

“That doesn’t look reassuring,” murmured Starlight.

I agreed. If that pony, Ruby, lived somewhere here, it wasn’t a good sign. Starlight searched for a street sign and found one lying lonely in the corner. We were on the right street; now we had to find the right house.

After going back and forth a few times, we finally saw it. A simple stone house, no different from any other in the neighborhood. Maybe a tiny bit cleaner.

Starlight walked up to the door and knocked hard. We received no answer even after she knocked a couple more times. Finally, she turned around to face me.

“Ruby is probably at work,” Starlight said. “Too bad Fields didn’t tell us anything about it. I guess we will have to wait here until she’s back.”

I looked around the street in reluctance. I had no desire to stay here more than I had to. In fact, I didn’t really want to meet that pony in the first place.

“Maybe she doesn’t even live here?” I offered a hopeful theory.

Starlight threw a glance at the house and shrugged.

“Well, the place doesn’t look abandoned, so at least someone should live here,” she said. “But we can stroll around the city instead of just waiting here, if you want.”

“Yes, that sounds like a good idea,” I said with relief in my voice.

We spent the next few hours doing exactly what we had planned. Starlight showed me the most interesting parts of Canterlot. We visited Starswirl the Bearded’s old house, which had been turned into a museum. Starswirl was the one who was in some way responsible for my situation, so I wanted to know more about him.

There weren’t any really dangerous artefacts like the mirror portal, but I still was able to see plenty of interesting stuff. Starswirl lived modestly, without unnecessary luxury. I wouldn’t have even guessed a great mage of the past had lived there if I hadn’t been told specifically.

After that, we went back to the castle and enjoyed being in the Royal Garden for a while. It was a good weather for just walking in the shadow of the trees. I mentioned it to Starlight.

“Yeah, the pegasi have scheduled sunny weather for the rest of the week,” she threw in casually.

“Do they work as forecasters?” I asked curiously.

Starlight chuckled seeing my confusion.

“They actually make the weather here,” she explained. “Twilight has told me about the other world that she’s visited and the weather worked on its own there. I’m guessing your world is like that too?”

“Wow, so ponies can control the weather?”

“Not any pony, only pegasi,” said Starlight. “But yeah.”

I didn’t know if I should be either surprised or just take it for granted. This world had magic, portals and talking ponies; why not controlled weather?

“That must be cool,” I said, looking up at the clear sky. “You would always know when it’s going to rain, so you won’t get wet.”

Starlight told me more about the weather in Equestria while we relaxed on a bench. According to her, each town in Equestria had a pegasi team who controlled the weather over their town. They created clouds and could move them around to make it rain in that specific area. I could see how useful it could be for farming.

Speaking of food – I was feeling hungry again. I didn’t want to bother Starlight with that though, not when there was so much tasty-looking greenery around. Ponies are supposed to eat grass, right?

Picking a moment when Starlight wasn’t looking, I snatched a lone leaf out of a tree and chewed on it. The taste was…weird. It was edible, I guess, but it wasn’t something I would eat for dinner every day. Starlight looked back at me in surprise.

“Why are you eating leaves?” she asked.

I quickly swallowed the rest and chuckled nervously.

“Isn’t that what ponies are supposed to eat?” I said, blushing heavily.

“Well, no,” Starlight corrected my error.

She explained in detail how wrong I was to think so and even gave me an example of delicious food from the kitchen that she had managed to get somehow. It was the best salad I had ever tried – much better than a leaf from a tree.

“So you can’t just eat any random green thing you see on the street,” she told me. “Ponies can eat those, of course, but nopony in their right mind would do that.”

Starlight was a little disturbed when I had asked about meat. Of course, I knew ponies didn’t eat that, but I just wanted to be sure. She told me that gryphons sometimes ate meat, but they tried not to do that in Equestria in front of ponies.

“It’s the time when most of the ponies are finishing their work and going home,” finally said Starlight, switching from that disturbingly carnivorous topic. “We can go to Ruby now.”

I had just begun to relax when Starlight brought that up. My mood shifted for the worse. But we had decided that I had to meet my old friend and there was no escape now, despite how unsure I felt. Starlight supported me with a gentle tap on my back, seeing my worry.

“I understand that it may be hard,” she said. “But I’m sure it would be for the best.”

We walked to Ruby’s home for the second time today, but this time I was sure to find her there. The neighborhood appeared more active, but the local ponies weren’t looking any better than their shoddy houses.

When we got to the place, instead of knocking on the door herself, Starlight offered me to do that. She told me it would be better if the first thing Ruby saw at her door was me. I wasn’t happy about that prospect, but I trotted to the door determinedly and rapped my hoof on it.

An azure-coated mare with a green mane opened it. She looked tired and her coat didn’t look as nice as Starlight’s or even mine. I would guess that life wasn’t treating her well, judging by her appearance alone, even ignoring the neighborhood she was living in.

The pony looked at me indifferently the first few moments, but then she gasped and her eyes flew wide open. She tried to keep her composure though.

“C-can I help you?” the pony asked in a flattering voice.

I stayed there, not knowing what to say. Ruby, which I assumed was her, obviously recognized me, but I didn’t. It was a tough situation. Gladly, Starlight helped.

“Are you Ruby?” she asked, standing beside me. “Do you remember Sundae?”

The pony’s gaze snapped towards me and she looked into my eyes intensely. I froze in place, not daring to say anything.

“Sundae?” Ruby asked weakly. “Is that really you?”

It wasn’t an easy question to answer. Despite everything telling me that I was Sundae the Pony, I still felt like Annie the Human. But I didn’t want to disappoint Ruby, seeing her insanely hopeful eyes.

“I guess I am,” I sighed.

I barely managed to let the phrase out as I was tackled to the ground and squeezed so much that it was hard to breathe. It continued for a full minute before I gently tried to get out of her deadly grip.

The pony let me go reluctantly and put me back on my hooves. Wow, it looked like she was really happy to see me. The problem was that I couldn’t remember her at all. Starlight was wrong; seeing my old friend hadn’t managed to return my memories.

I wanted to tell her that, but then I looked into her smiling face and couldn’t bring myself to do that. I didn’t want to take away her happiness.

“Well, that answers my question,” said Starlight with a big smile on her face.

I smiled too, but it was forced. I switched my gaze nervously between Starlight and Ruby and they noticed my discomfort. Their happy expressions were quickly replaced with more sober ones.

“What’s wrong?” Ruby asked, drooping her ears.

I looked at the ground silently and Starlight stepped up to answer the question.

“Sundae’s lost her memories of the past,” Starlight addressed the issue directly. “She hasn’t even been a pony for the past six years.”

“Oh…”

We stood in silence on the street for a few moments, when Starlight suggested we go into the house. Some ponies on the street had already started to give us some weird glances.

Ruby managed to keep her emotions in check and made a gesture for us to follow inside. She closed the door after us and we followed through the short corridor right into the living room.

It was clean, but that was the only good thing I could say about it. I didn’t trust that old couch to hold my weight– it looked like it was about to fall apart on its own. The rest of the furniture wasn’t in better condition.

Ruby invited us to sit down, so I carefully climbed on it, despite its poor state. It creaked loudly, but remained standing. Starlight sat on the floor beside the couch though, for which I was grateful. I wasn’t sure it would hold one more pony.

“Sundae, I’m so glad to see you alive, even if you don’t remember me,” Ruby said, jumping onto the couch to my side, completely destroying my assumption about its toughness.

She gave me another hug, though not as powerful as the first one, but this time I returned it. Her happiness was contagious. I teared up against my will – she was so happy to see me and I wasn’t even able to remember her.

“Ruby…I’m sorry…” I sobbed. “I promise to do everything I can to remember you.”

After one last squeeze she let me go and looked at Starlight questioningly. She gave me the cue, so I introduced them to each other, though Starlight already knew Ruby’s name.

Starlight retold Ruby my life story for the past six years. I listened to it too – it was good to hear the story from a different perspective. I didn’t didn’t even have to correct her that often, since she had learned it pretty well.

“It’s the Doctor!” exploded Ruby after Starlight had finished. It was so unexpected that I’d have fallen off the couch if she hadn’t grabbed me in time. “Sorry, Sunny. It’s the Doctor,” she repeated more calmly.

“Do you want me to see a doctor?” I asked dumbly.

“No, silly, Doctor Shade!” she repeated as if she was expecting me to know this name. Her ears went flat. “Oh, you don’t remember him…Anyway, I always knew he had something to do with your disappearance. Rose, the pony who went through the Mirror first, had no memory troubles after she had recovered, though she lost her cutie mark, just like you…” she threw a sad glance at my empty flank.

“He was the leader of your expedition, right?” Starlight asked.

“Yes, he was,” Ruby nodded. “Sundae couldn’t have lost her memory on her own; the Doctor must have had something to do with it. He’d always hated her.”

Starlight considered that for a moment and said thoughtfully:

“There are forbidden spells that can have such an effect, but Shade isn’t even a unicorn. How in Equestria would he have pulled it off?”

“He had an accomplice!” Ruby stomped her hoof on the couch, which made it shake menacingly. “I forgot the pony’s name though. I tried to tell everypony, but they all believed the Doctor. I lost my job because of it.”

“Well, that’s a pretty serious accusation, but I think you may be right,” said Starlight with a frown. “I expected Annie, or Sundae if you will, to remember something after seeing you, but the fact that she didn’t tells me it wasn’t a natural memory loss. Something is blocking her memory from surfacing.”

After meeting with Ruby, I realized that I wanted to remember my past more than anything. Who knew if there was another friend who thought that pony Sundae was gone forever, not to mention something that I didn’t want to think about at all – my pony parents. I didn’t ask and no one told me, but I knew they were out there.

“Starlight, I have to ask you something,” I turned to face her. “Can you return my memories? I think I’m ready to be a pony now.”

Something flickered on Starlight’s behind after I’d said it. We all looked there at her shimmering cutie mark that symbolized her finished mission, as she had explained to me earlier.

“So that what was it,” Starlight said, curious.

***

Ruby offered us some tea with cookies and we stayed at her house until the evening. She was an interesting and nice pony and I was becoming friends with her even without my old memories.

But it was time to return to the castle. I was kind of worried that Marcus had left for our – his – world without saying goodbye, even though I was sure he wouldn’t do that to me.

Starlight offered Ruby to go with us and stay at the castle for tonight. She said that Twilight would be interested to hear more about her theory and maybe even do something about the Doctor, who, as Ruby suspected, had done something to me.

Ruby was reluctant to go at first, saying it wasn’t safe to travel through her neighborhood at such a late hour, but Starlight assured her she was able to handle any trouble. Happily, it wasn’t needed.

When we arrived back at the castle, it was already dark and the gates were closed. The guards at the gates recognized Starlight though and let us in without question.

Ruby eagerly looked around, taking in every detail. It was a stark contrast to her own home and she was amazed at the splendor inside. I’d probably had the same reaction as her when I had seen it for the first time.

Twilight was in the room with Marcus. They didn’t look happy. I had a terrible feeling in my gut that something had gone wrong and Twilight confirmed it.

“I wasn’t able to activate the portal again,” she said quietly. “I also wasn’t able to find your cutie mark in it. I was doing my best all day, but I just don’t know what’s wrong with it.”

I looked at Marcus, who appeared devastated by the news. I was already getting used to the idea of staying in this form for a while, but he had planned to return and now he was stuck like me.

Ruby and I trotted to him, leaving Starlight to discuss the technical details with Twilight. I approached him and nuzzled his hand gently. He looked at me in surprise.

“I’m sorry, Marcus,” I sighed. “It’s my fault I dragged you into this…”

“Don’t blame yourself,” Marcus and Ruby said both at the same time. They exchanged curious glances with each other and Marcus continued. “I wanted to help you and I don’t regret it. I’m sure Twilight will find a way to send me back soon.”

“Of course she will,” nodded Ruby. “She’s the Element of Magic after all.”

Starlight had told me about the Elements while we were exploring Canterlot, but Marcus wasn’t there, so I repeated her story to him. Ruby was interested in it as well, since she knew it only from the press while I had been told about it almost first hoof, so to say.

“I’ve met the big pony princess today, by the way,” Marcus mentioned, wishing to change the topic to distract himself. “She came to talk with Twilight.”

“Princess Celestia?!” Ruby gasped. “You’re so lucky!”

Twilight heard that and approached us along with Starlight. She introduced herself to Ruby, though I was pretty sure she had already recognized the princess.

“I asked Princess Celestia if she knows something about Starswirl’s work, but she couldn’t help us,” Twilight looked at Marcus in concern. “She offered you two to stay here at Canterlot Castle if you want, but I would appreciate it if you went with me to my own castle in Ponyville. Green Fields has allowed me to borrow the mirror and I plan to work on it in my own lab until I fix it.”

“Thank you, Twilight,” sighed Marcus. “I appreciate it. But how about Annie?”

Twilight looked at me expectantly. I guess Starlight had told her about my decision to stay as a pony and she wanted me to share the news with Marcus personally.

“I…I’ve decided to stay here for the time being,” I explained to him. “I mean, I already had to stay here because I couldn’t return while looking like a pony, but now I want to stay because I want to remember my past. Remember how to be a pony.”

Marcus wasn’t overly surprised by this revelation. He was interested, however, when I got to Ruby’s theory about how I had lost my memory. Twilight turned thoughtful too.

“That makes sense,” she said. “I assumed the memory loss to be the result of a psychological trauma, but a spell sounds more likely.” She turned to Ruby. “So you think Doctor Shade had something to do with it?”

“I do, but nopony believed me,” Ruby complained to us. “He became a legend after our expedition that was led by him found Starswirl’s old lab, so no one listened to me.”

“I remember it; I was still in school at the time,” said Twilight. “I’ve heard about the tragedy on the expedition – the pony who got lost in the Mirror. That’s why I had always wanted to study it in person. Don’t worry, I’ll bring him to justice if he had something to do with all of this,” her face turned to a stern frown as she said it. “On a brighter note – we’re returning to Ponyville tomorrow. I need to know your decision, so that I can buy you the tickets in advance.”

Marcus and I exchanged glances and we both nodded affirmatively. Marcus saw no point in staying here without Twilight, while I wanted to ask Starlight to teach me to use serious magic. I was only worried about my new old friend Ruby. If I went to Ponyville, we wouldn’t be able to see each other very often. Fortunately, that problem solved itself.

“I’m quitting my job and going to Ponyville too,” Ruby stated. “I don’t want to lose you again, Sundae.”

“Is she one of your old pony friends?” Marcus suddenly asked.

I realized that I had forgotten to explain who Ruby was to him. I wanted to explain it, but Ruby took the matter in her own hooves.

“I’m her best friend,” she said proudly and offered her hoof to him. He bumped it with his fist unsurely. “And you’re the human who helped her to return?”

“Yeah…”

After that, Twilight offered Ruby to stay the night with us. Ruby agreed and Twilight got one more bed for her. The room was pretty big, but with four ponies and one human in it, it was becoming a little crowded.

When the matter of sleeping arrangements was taken care of, I asked something that had been bothering me.

“Are you sure you want to quit your job just like that?” I swiveled my hoof in the air. “I mean–”

“I know what you mean, Sunny,” Ruby interrupted me. “But you’re more important to me than some lousy job. Besides, I was going to quit anyway. I’m sure there are better jobs for me in Ponyville.”

“She can stay at my castle too until she can find her own place,” Twilight offered from her couch. “Celestia knows, I have a lot of free room there, even considering the new guard detachment that’s going to move in soon.”

Ruby looked at the floor, lowering her ears a little. I put a calming hoof at her shoulder and she twitched it, but looked at me with a tiny smile.

“Thank you, Princess,” she turned her eyes back to her. “But I wouldn’t want to impose on you. I have some money saved to rent my own room to live until I get a job.”

It was a silly idea and Starlight told her exactly what was on my mind. Together, we managed to convince her to accept the offered help. To be honest, her behavior reminded me a little of my own.

I went to sleep feeling much better than I had been the morning. I’d met my old, forgotten friend, reconciled with the other and had made friends with Starlight. If Starlight’s magical map had sent her here to solve my friendship problem, it was doing a terrific job.

Tomorrow I would leave for Ponyville and was probably going to stay there for a while, but now this prospect didn’t scare me. I wanted to remember who I was in the past, wanted to learn more about magic and the most important part – I had finally accepted being a pony.

Part III - Chapter 9: Welcome to Ponyville

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Chapter 9 – Welcome to Ponyville

The train was moving fast on the railroad. The peaceful countryside flashed past the window. If I didn’t know any better, I would say we were still on Earth. I was sitting between Marcus and Ruby – my two best friends – and listening to Twilight, sometimes glancing out of the window.

Twilight was telling us interesting facts about the railroad between Ponyville and Canterlot. It hadn’t been built specifically to connect the two cities; the railroad had been there before and Ponyville had just been founded on it.

“Ponyville is not like Canterlot, but I hope you’ll like it too,” Twilight said to us, smiling pleasantly.

“It has its charm,” nodded Starlight.

Based on what I had already heard, Ponyville sounded delightful. It had become important just recently, after Princess Twilight had set up her residence there, but it was still a small provincial town, just the type I liked. I wasn’t a fan of large cities and while Canterlot wasn’t very big by Earth standards, it still didn’t feel comfortable enough for me.

We had been travelling for a few hours already and Twilight announced that we were about to arrive at our destination. I looked out of the window again – a nice town finally appeared in my view. I was excited to finally see it for myself, having heard so much good about it from Twilight.

We waited until the train slowed down and went to the exit, preparing to leave. Twilight levitated a big, wrapped box along with her – the magical mirror that Green Fields had let her borrow for a more intimate study. A few ponies got out of the train along with us as soon as it stopped, but not nearly as many as in Canterlot. They quickly disappeared behind the station building and the platform became empty.

Not empty, I corrected myself, noticing a strange reptile creature that was waiting for us, leaning onto the wall. Twilight also had noticed the creature and trotted towards him. A smile appeared on the lizard’s face after seeing her approach.

“Hello, Spike!” Twilight exclaimed and hugged him tightly.

My eyebrows went up. Twilight had mentioned Spike before, of course, but the way she’d talked about him had made me think he was another pony. Instead, he was a purple lizard, standing on two legs with a green mohawk on his head. He looked at our small group out of Twilight’s embrace.

“Who are they?” the creature asked, pointing a claw at us.

Before Twilight could answer however, Ruby stepped forward with a wide smile and waved a greeting hoof at him.

“My name is Ruby and my friends’ names are Marcus and Sundae,” she told him, nodding at each of us respectively. “Are you a dragon? I’ve always wanted to meet one.”

“I am. Nice to meet you all,” he greeted us, though he was looking mostly at Marcus. “I’m Spike.”

He approached Marcus and looked up at him. We ponies reached up to his belly in height, but Spike was even shorter, so he stood a little higher than Marcus’ knee, like a baby. The guy had to bend down to shake hands with him. It was curious to see that such a tradition existed here, where most of the population didn’t have hands to begin with. I stored that thought in my box of irrelevant facts and forgot about it.

After we were done with introductions, Twilight led us directly to her own castle. I could see it even from the station – a large crystal structure that dwarfed the small houses of Ponyville. It looked magnificent, but to be honest, I was more interested in the town itself.

If not for the ponies around me, I would think we were in some rural German village. Their houses were simple, with thatched roofs on the top, but very pretty. I wouldn’t mind living in one myself. Once again, the style reminded me of medieval Earth. There was probably a connection hidden somewhere, but it was a question for later.

The town appeared quiet, especially in contrast to Canterlot. Maybe even too quiet… I noticed that a few ponies who were walking towards us quickly turned around and ran away. I had an itching suspicion that Marcus was the unintentional reason for such a negative reaction. Marcus apparently thought so too, sharing his concern with the princess.

“Ponyville has had too many monster attacks in the past,” she sighed, lowering her ears slightly.

“But these ponies are obviously overreacting,” argued Starlight. “Can’t they see us getting along with him just fine?”

Twilight just sighed again, having nothing to say in return, and we continued on our path in an uneasy silence. The princess looked upset by the townsponies’ behavior. Her tail was twitching nervously and her ears haven’t been fully her ears were drooping. Spike gently touched her foreleg and said:

“Relax, Twilight. They’ll get used to him after a while.”

His words proved to be prophetic – a pink pony was running toward us with a happy expression on her face, showing no sign of fear. I noted her weird mane was unlike anything I had seen – it reminded me of a big cotton candy and it was bouncing along with her galloping. In fact, she was so fast that I was starting to fear she was going to crash into us, but the pony stopped sharply a few meters short.

“Welcome to Ponyville!” she exclaimed, throwing a bunch of confetti into our faces. Some of them got in my nose and I coughed a little. “I’ve made ribbons for you.”

She gave me and my friend each a pink ribbon with the words Welcome to Ponyville written on it. I clumsily grabbed one of them by reflex, but the wind blew it off my hoof. I watched it fly away in sadness.

“Don’t worry, I have another one for you,” the pink pony consoled me and quickly put a ribbon in my mane. I slowly stepped back.

“Hi, Pinkie Pie,” Twilight, Starlight and Spike said in unison.

I had to say, it was quite an appropriate name for a pony of such color. In fact, a lot of ponies I had met personally had an appropriate name, somehow connected to their appearance or occupation. I briefly wondered why I was named Sundae and not Sunglow, for example. It would make much more sense, considering my bright coat.

“So you are Pinkie,” I said, relaxing. Starlight had warned me about her…eccentricity, that was the word she used. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“What a coincidence, I’ve heard about you too!” Pinkie smiled, hopping in place. “You are the pony who’s lived in another world.”

That phrase got her a curious glance from Twilight herself, who was just standing there, thinking something to herself.

“How do you know?” she asked thoughtfully. “I hadn’t told my friends about her yet.”

A mysterious smile grew on Pinkie’s muzzle and she winked at Twilight teasingly.

“Pinkie sense,” was her answer, but Twilight obviously didn’t buy it. She continued to watch her with narrowed eyes.

“You’ve read Field’s letter to me, haven’t you?” Twilight pointed an accusing hoof at her.

Pinkie’s ears drooped and even her mane had become less puffy. The pony reached out to her side and took out an open envelope. She showed it to Twilight.

“I’m really sorry, but you just left so suddenly…” Pinkie rambled fast. “You never leave without an explanation and I was worried about you, so I decided–”

“To steal a private letter,” Starlight finished for her.

Twilight sent an annoying glare in her direction, which Starlight easily ignored. Instead, she looked at Pinkie with a frown of disapproval.

“No, I just wanted to read it, silly,” Pinkie booped Starlight’s muzzle. “I would never steal from my friends.”

Starlight nervously shifted her weight from one foreleg to another, blushing slightly.

“Eh, sorry. It was a bad choice of words,” she said, looking at her hooves. “I didn’t mean to imply…”

Pinkie nodded seriously, but her expression changed the next second when she turned her attention to us. I was a little nervous when she suddenly jumped towards me and embraced me in a tight hug that squeezed the air out of me.

“You poor thing,” I heard her murmur into my ear. “It must have been terrible to live as a human for so long. But I know just the thing to cheer you up, don’t you worry.”

I froze in place and almost fell when Pinkie finally let go of me and went to Ruby instead. It was her turn to receive a hug, but unlike me, she returned it with an enthusiasm rivaled by Pinkie herself.

Their good mood was contagious and I found myself smiling when she tried to hug Marcus, but could only hug his knees. He awkwardly patted her on her bouncy mane regardless.

Being done with hugs, Pinkie quickly said her goodbyes and ran off. She claimed to be expecting an important delivery, so she had to be there exactly on time. I was still trying to process everything that had happened just now, when Ruby chuckled amusingly.

“And I thought I was weird,” she said half-jokingly.

“That’s Pinkie for you,” Twilight shrugged casually. “Let’s continue to the castle.”

News in Ponyville apparently traveled pretty fast, because after our short meeting with Pinkie many more ponies had gathered on the streets. At least no one tried to run away in panic – they were just going about their own business, though suspicious stares still glared at Marcus’ back when he walked nearby. It was at moments like these that I was glad to be a pony among ponies.

Twilight’s castle looked bigger from up close, though it was still far from Canterlot Royal Castle. It was like a cat compared to an elephant in size.

It reminded me of a tree in its shape. Starlight had told me that it had grown out of the ground, just like a tree, but the very idea of it sounded preposterous to me, even in this land of magical wonders. A big balcony hung on the wall high above the entrance gates.

We walked inside and Spike revealed that he had made some food for us in advance, so he invited everypony to dinner. I was interested in comparing his cooking skills with the ponies in Canterlot’s castle.

Twilight led us into a fancy dining room, while Spike went into the other door. The dining room was of a royal size, most likely built – or grown – to handle large meetings, though honestly Twilight didn't strike me as a very social kind of pony.

Still, the room was lovely furnished with a large table and chairs that looked very comfortable from the distance. We settled down close together and waited, while Spike went out to bring us the food he’d promised. My chair really was comfortable and it even had a hole to put my tail through, so it wouldn’t get all messed up. Just to think that I had wanted to cut it off a few days ago…ugh.

Spike appeared a few minutes later with a bunch of trays full of plates. I looked in amazement at this feat of dexterity – he was balancing half a dozen of them in his small claws and even on his head.

I offered to help him, but he rejected it and served the table on his own, almost stumbling a couple of times. I clapped my hooves together in admiration with Ruby and Marcus joining in a few seconds late. Twilight and Starlight exchanged a pleased look with each other.

“I want you to take care of our new friends when you're done showing off,” she said, chuckling. “I've got the lab to prepare. Starlight, would you help me?”

“What? And miss the dinner?” Spike was downcast by Twilight’s suggestion and he wasn’t trying to hide it.

They argued a little, but in the end Twilight excused herself out of dinner and, having grabbed some food to indulge Spike, rushed out of the room. Starlight followed her, after devouring an entire hayburger in one bite.

Spike wasn't bothered in the slightest by the responsibility that had suddenly been dropped on his head. He just sat on his chair casually and was fully absorbed in his task. I looked more closely at what he was crunching on with such vigor and opened my mouth in surprise.

Spike was eating a gemstone! I would make a fortune by selling one of those babies on Earth and he just ate them like cupcakes! He looked back at me after feeling my intense stare. I felt my cheeks blush after I’d realized that I had been staring quite rudely.

“What?” he asked in concern. “Did I get something in my teeth?”

“Yeah, dude, you're eating rocks,” Marcus told him sarcastically, before I could have come up with an appropriate answer.

“Not just any rocks, but gems!” I exclaimed in alarm.

We all gathered closer to him in curiosity. The fact that Spike was eating gems was incredible and I wanted to know more. Even Ruby, who was native to this land, appeared impressed. Though, technically, the dragons weren’t native to this country…

“Can ponies eat gems too?” Marcus asked and threw a funny glance at me.

I didn’t know the full extent of my pony abilities yet, but I was sure that eating gems wasn’t one of them. Spike’s chuckle proved my guess. He crunched down the last delicious gemstone before answering.

“Of course not,” he said. “Only dragons can do that. Though Twilight doesn’t let me eat too much…” he let out a sigh.

“Why not?” I asked automatically, but the answer dawned on me immediately after – it must have been expensive to eat gems. On the other hoof, this world could have gemstones lying around in every corner for all I knew.

“She says it's like candy for a baby: you simply can't eat too much,” Spike explained, rolling his eyes. “I mostly eat the usual pony food. But she’s so distracted with your mirror now, she won’t even notice that I took some.”

Marcus and Spike went into a lengthy conversation about pony cuisine, while I turned my attention to my friend Ruby. She hadn’t joined the conversation so far, since she was busy gulping down a delicious salad with hay fries that Spike had made.

Turns out he was a pretty good cook. Or maybe it was just me – everything seemed tastier these days after turning into a pony. In fact, I realized that all of my senses were unusually sharp. But whatever the real reason was didn't matter. I enjoyed the meal very much and that was what was important.

“So, are you going to stay in the castle now?” Spike asked.

“That’s what Twilight said,” I nodded, making a gesture at the surroundings. “I have to admit, this castle is pretty awesome. There is nothing like that where we came from.”

Spike glowed from my words like he was the one who had personally built it. He stood up from his chair and walked up to one of the pillars that decorated the walls. He knocked on it, producing a clacking sound.

“The best crystal in all of Equestria,” he commented his action. “Not even the Crystal Empire has crystals this pure. And the best part is – it grew on its own.”

“What?” Marcus raised his eyebrows unbelievingly.

But Ruby and I weren’t surprised. I had heard the story from Starlight already and Ruby, being local and all, probably knew it too already. Marcus was the only one out of the loop.

I had started to explain, but Spike raised his hand, stopping me. He smiled apologetically and said: “Sorry, but I’ve got to tell that story myself,” and he did.

Starlight was a pretty good storyteller, but she was nothing compared to Spike; that boy had some talent. While Starlight just retold me the list of events with a little commentary of her own, which was pretty boring, if informative, Spike made it all sound like a real story.

“Wow,” Marcus whistled out loud. “Sorry, but did the castle really grow like a tree after Twilight and her friends had defeated the rampaging monster? That’s just…wow.”

The door to the room opened and Twilight herself trotted in with a concentrated look on her face. She stopped when she saw Spike standing in his story-telling pose on the table and frowned.

“Get off the table, Spike,” she pointed a hoof at him and gestured down.

“Relax, Twilight,” Spike jumped down easily and approached her. “I was just telling the guys that awesome story about you.”

Even though I’d already known of her achievements before, I looked at Twilight with new eyes now. She probably noticed that, because she blushed slightly and gave us a humble smile. Her wings’ feathers twitched a little, showing her nervousness.

“Don’t believe everything Spike says,” she chuckled, patting Spike on his head. “He just loves to exaggerate everything.”

Despite what Twilight had said, I believed Spike. His facts were the same, if more colorful, as what I’d heard from Starlight. It was nice to see someone in a position of power to have a simple human – equine – modesty.

“I just came here to say that Starlight and I are going be in the lab for a while,” Twilight explained to us. “We’re going to try something on the mirror.” She turned to Spike next. “Would you show our guests to their rooms, please?”

“Sure thing, Twilight,” Spike waved his hand dismissively.

“Then it’s settled,” Twilight nodded to herself and added, “You all can stay here for as long as you want. Even you, Ruby,” she looked at her just as the mare opened her mouth to say something.

The castle looked pretty empty and I was sure it was no trouble for Twilight to spare a few rooms for us, but it was a nice gesture nonetheless. I gave her my thanks in the way of a grateful nod. Having finished business here, Twilight went back to her lab.

Spike got to work immediately after, picking up the empty plates from the table. I would have helped, but I decided not to. It wasn’t that I was an unmannered brat – I just wasn’t used to my hooves yet, so trying to move fragile plates seemed like a bad idea.

Ruby and Marcus didn’t have that problem, so they offered to help, though Spike rejected it nonetheless. He quickly gathered the rest on his own and carried them out through the side door. He must have left them for later, since he returned the next moment.

“Can we see Ponyville first?” I suddenly asked, surprising myself.

Ruby seconded my idea, while Marcus just gave a nonchalant shrug. I guess he was still upset because he was stuck in this world, but at least he wasn’t letting it affect us, for which I was grateful to him.

“Of course,” Spike said, going towards the door that leads outside. “Your rooms aren’t going anywhere; I can show you around Ponyville first.”

We got up and followed him through the wide corridors of the castle onto the street. The sun was still burning hot over our heads. I looked up, hoping to see some pegasi who were supposed to handle the weather, but the sky was clear.

The desire to see some pegasus in action hadn’t left me since Starlight had explained the principles of weather in Equestria. Canterlot’s ponies were mostly unicorns and earth ponies; besides, I hadn’t had the time to search the sky for pegasi as I was doing now.

“There is supposed to be some rain in the evening today,” Spike said with a hint of worry. “I wonder when Rainbow is going to start on that.”

He said Rainbow with an intonation like it was somepony’s name, but he could have meant a colorful nature event as well; ponies’ names were confusing like that. Come to think of it, Starlight had mentioned that one of Twilight’s friends was named Rainbow.

The ponies on the streets weren’t as afraid of Marcus as when they had first seen him in the morning. They still preferred to keep their distance, but at least no one was running off in panic. Spike waved to a few of them and they waved back unsurely.

We met a lot more ponies on the market. It was busy at this time of day, but not by London standards, so it was okay by me. I watched with interest at what they were buying – it was mostly food, like cabbages or carrots, but there were some household items too.

Marcus was careful not to bump into anypony and he was doing a great job, until he literally stepped on somepony’s extensively long pink tail.

The yellow pegasus – the owner of said tail – looked back and froze with a horrified expression on her face. She lifted her gaze to Marcus’s face and let out a barely audible squeak. Marcus immediately let go of her tail and offered a sincere apology to the pony.

“I-it’s okay,” she stuttered meekly. “I’m sorry my tail got in your way…”

“Hey, Fluttershy,” Spike greeted her. Fluttershy looked at him with relief, noticing him for the first time.

Spike took her tail and brushed it with his palms, cleaning off the dirt, while explaining why she shouldn’t be afraid of Marcus. He shook the tail one last time – it was as clean as it had been before meeting Marcus’ boot.

While they were busy, I thought that I had seen some spooky blue eyes looking at me out of the barrel that stood next to one the stalls, but when I looked closely nothing was there. I threw it out of my mind and paid attention to Fluttershy.

I recognized her name – she was one of Twilight’s famous friends. Once again, I pointed out how the name was appropriate for the pony. Based on her behavior so far it was hard to imagine her battling monsters. Maybe she wasn’t always so…shy.

“What is your name?” it took me a moment to realize that Fluttershy was asking me.

“Eh…” I wanted to say Annie, but that name no longer felt like mine now. If I was serious about reclaiming my old self, I needed to start using my true name instead. “It’s Sundae.”

Marcus looked at me with understanding and Ruby smiled encouragingly. They both already saw me more as a pony – even Marcus, who had known me as a human for all my life in his world.

“They’re staying in Twilight’s castle for now,” Spike explained to Fluttershy. He told her the short version of our story and when he got to the part about me having been a human until a week ago, she gasped in shock.

“Oh my goodness, that must have been horrible!” she exclaimed and gasped again, darting her eyes at Marcus. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…”

“Relax, I get it,” Marcus waved his arm, which seemed to calm the pony a little.

“I have to finish my shopping list,” Fluttershy said apologetically. “But I hope we’ll talk later. I want to hear more about this human world, if you don’t mind.”

We didn’t, Marcus assured her. Fluttershy also invited us to visit her anytime we wanted, but she also warned us about a bear who apparently lived with her. I didn’t know what my friends were thinking, but for me it kind of ruined the chances of getting anywhere near her cottage.

We parted ways after that. Spike led us away from the market and into the town itself. We were just strolling through the street, entertaining ourselves by talking. He was telling us interesting facts about Ponyville – it had been built next to the Everfree Forest, for example.

The forest had a bad reputation and for good reason – dangerous monsters inhabited it and sometimes even dared to attack Ponyville. Though such attacks had become a thing of the past after Twilight had settled here.

But Ponyville wasn’t only known for its frequent monster attacks and disasters. Usually it was a pretty calm town. According to Spike, it was also the hometown of a world-famous fashionista and dressmaker. He was going to introduce us to her.

That arose a great deal of interest in me. I was meaning to ask where I could find some pony clothes and a dressmaker was just the pony I needed. Though I doubted that I could afford her clothes – I couldn’t afford anything, since I had no money at all.

I wasn’t planning to live with Twilight forever, so maybe looking for a job was in order. I decided to discuss it with Ruby on our way to the fashionista, since Ruby had expressed her desire to find a job and her own place to stay.

“Ruby? I need your advice,” the mare looked at me curiously, encouraging me to continue. I cleared my throat. “Do you think it’s possible to find a job for me here?”

“Job?” Spike answered instead. “Twilight would help you with everything you need, don’t worry.”

“I need a job,” I said stubbornly. “I don’t want to be indebted to somepony, even somepony as nice as Twilight.”

Ruby nodded with approval, clearly pleased with my line of thinking. Spike shrugged, showing that he wasn’t going to argue here. I appreciated that.

“It wouldn’t hurt to have something to do too,” said Marcus.

I guess we all had a common ground here. The only thing left to do was to actually find a job. I was sure that Twilight would help with that if I asked, but I wanted to handle it on my own. It would be a cinch, for sure.

I looked up at the sky above us and finally saw a pegasus flying there. The pony with wings was moving a cloud somewhere, which was amazing. I pointed it out to Marcus and Ruby with a silly smile on my face. Marcus shared my excitement, while Ruby looked like she was dying from boredom.

I wish I had wings – that way I would apply for a weather job. It sounded like a good thing to do. But since I didn’t, there was no point in thinking about it, unless I was transformed one more time, which was doubtful. At least I had my horn and could learn to do magic, unlike both of my friends.

“I’m sure there are couple of simple jobs for us in town,” Ruby said. “Isn’t that right, Spike?”

“What?” Spike obviously wasn’t listening, judging by the dreamy look on his face. Ruby had to repeat her question for him. “Oh, yes. Maybe Rarity would have something to do in her store.”

The prospect of working at a store didn’t thrill me. I was hoping for something more exciting than a simple job at a counter again. Then I lowered my ears in shame, remembering Ruby’s life after I had disappeared. Working at a store would probably be a huge improvement for her.

Some clanking noise from the side alley distracted me from my thoughts. I stopped to take a closer look and saw a tiny baby alligator standing on a crate. It would have been a pretty strange sight for me before, but after flying ponies and magical castles my concept of weird had changed, so I just shrugged and trotted forward to catch up with my friends.

They were just crossing a bridge over a stream, getting out into an open park with various tents set up on its ground. One of the tents was much bigger than the others. Upon looking at it more closely, I discovered that it wasn’t a tent at all – the cone-shaped building was just decorated as one.

Its blue walls were covered by a pattern around the two big windows on the front. The second level of the building was thinner than its base and decorated with wooden horses, similar to that on a carousel. One of them also hung over the purple front door, wearing a dress. Even without the telling sign, I would have guessed that we were at the dressmaker’s shop by Spike’s eagerness alone.

A “closed” sign was displayed on the door, but Spike just ignored it. The dragon approached the door with a jumping walk and knocked. It took a few more knocks before a delicate feminine voice from inside the shop said I’m coming. In the next moment the door opened.

I recognized Rarity immediately. I thought that Spike was exaggerating her beauty, but I had been badly mistaken. Her coat was clean white and almost glowing; Ruby nervously stepped from one leg to another, no doubt embarrassed of her own coat with various dirty spots on it.

Rarity’s purple mane was even more amazing than her coat –it sprung from her head, curling up on the end, giving her an elegant appearance. I suddenly remembered the last time I had brushed my mane was a few days ago, which had probably taken its toll on it.

“Hello, Spike!” she greeted the dragon and then turned her attention to us, holding her stare on Marcus a few seconds longer. “You didn’t warn me that you were bringing along some new friends.”

“Sorry, I was just showing them around town and I couldn’t miss the main event,” Spike smiled in his attempt at flattery, pointing at the store with his claw.

“That’s nice, dear,” Rarity smiled, but I could see that her smile was a little stretched. “It’s just not the best moment for an excursion…My store is closed for now as you can see.” She gently pointed at the “closed” sign with her hoof. “But come on in since you’re already here.”

She disappeared inside the shop, leaving the door opened. We promptly followed right behind.

“She didn’t look very happy to see us,” Marcus whispered to me and Ruby. Spike had obviously heard him and gave him the stink eye.

“She’s just had a bad day, dude, that’s all,” he said, thrusting an accusing finger at him.

Marcus just shrugged casually, not caring enough to argue the point. I personally didn’t see the conflict in combining both of their opinions – Rarity wasn’t happy to see us because she’d had a bad day, plain and simple.

My eyes went all over the place when I saw the various dresses displayed in the shop. They were displayed on special ponnequins. I wasn’t much of an expert on pony fashion, but for me each of the dresses looked fabulous and expensive. It was incredible that they had all been made by just one pony.

We quickly got past them and into the kitchen. Rarity showed us to the table and then levitated a bunch of cups onto it, filling them from a teapot. The nice aroma of the fresh tea reached my nose.

“Would you like some crackers with it?” she asked, levitating a bag of them out of the cupboard. She spilled them into a bowl after receiving our positive nods.

We sat in a slightly awkward silence, sipping tea and nibbling crackers. I almost spilled it on me – my hoof motoric wasn’t all that great yet.

“I couldn’t help but notice that you’re wearing the jacket I’ve made,” Rarity addressed me, finally breaking the silence.

Oh, that was the same Rarity who had gifted it to Starlight. I wondered why I hadn’t made this connection before. I would probably have taken it off before coming here to avoid just such a situation.

“Em…Yes,” there was no point in denying the obvious.

“Made specifically for Starlight,” Rarity clarified after a pause. Well, that was getting awkward.

“It’s a beautiful jacket, Rarity,” Spike said, hoping to diffuse the situation, but one glance at her face made him stop.

“How can I hope to be a successful designer when even my friends don’t want to wear the clothes I’ve made?” she exclaimed, drooping her ears and slumping into the chair, her eyes wet from tears.

“Are you okay, filly?” Ruby asked, even though she obviously was not.

I gripped my teacup hard in my hooves and watched the devastated pony in front of me. I wanted to say something to calm her down, but I was afraid to upset her even more. Finally, I found a way.

“Starlight gave it to me because I was struggling with being a pony,” I said. Rarity gave me a surprised stare. “That jacket helped me overcome some of my fears.”

Taking his cue, Spike quickly told Rarity our story, which she listened to with great interest. She recovered while he was talking and by the time he was done, she was showing a calm exterior.

“Oh,” Rarity said, blushing embarrassingly after he was done, “I guess I overreacted a little. Though it’s been a very stressful day for me, but that’s no excuse, of course.”

“Damn right it’s not,” Ruby said quietly, but everypony had heard her. I looked at her incredulously and she smiled, drooping her ears. “I mean it is…”

“I understand,” I interrupted her, addressing Rarity herself. “Your dresses are great, by the way.”

Rarity bowed her head at me, showing more regality in that one move than I’d seen in Twilight since I’d first met her. I guess I got why Spike was so obsessed with her. I definitely wanted to get to know her better.

“Would you like to try some?” she offered me with a warm smile.

I shook my head, hoping that my rejection wouldn’t upset her too much. Trying on a dress I couldn’t afford would just make me feel bad, but I didn’t want to admit it to Rarity.

“Did something happen, Rarity?” Spike asked with concern in his voice, before she could react. She sighed heavily.

“It’s nothing, really…” she started denying it, but trailed off. “You’re going to keep asking until I say it, won’t you?” Spike nodded with a smug grin. “Okay, I’m waiting for a letter from Manehattan. My whole career literally depends on it! How could I not worry?”

Rarity threw her hooves into the air dramatically. I noticed how Ruby rolled her eyes in the corner of my vision, but everyone else thankfully had missed it. Spike was looking at Rarity with concern, while Marcus wore a puzzled expression. He wasn’t used to such expressive emotions.

“What’s so important about that letter?” Spike asked.

“It’s going to tell me if I got the permission to open a boutique in Manehattan!” Rarity loudly exclaimed and covered her muzzle with a hoof embarrassingly. “Sorry, I’m just stressed out. I was supposed to have gotten that letter days ago. I even went to the post office, but they said it hadn’t arrived yet. What if I was denied? What if–”

“Quit it, for Celestia’s sake!” Ruby interrupted her rant. Rarity stopped with an open mouth. She slowly closed it. “Of course you will get the permission. You’re friends with the Princess; no one would dare to deny you.”

Ruby stood with her ears flat against her head and with her forelegs on the table, glaring at Rarity. I had suspected that the two hadn’t hit it off from the start, but I hadn’t realized how bad it was. I felt like I had to say something.

“Calm down, please,” I said, gently putting my hoof over Ruby’s. That earned me a glare from her, but at least she didn’t swat my hoof away.

“Well, excuse me for caring about my business, darling,” Rarity snapped back, having recovered from the initial shock. “A quality that you obviously lack.” She looked her over meaningfully, no doubt referring to the rough condition of her coat.

Marcus facepalmed and I completely understood his feelings. I didn’t want my friend arguing with one of Twilight’s best friends, especially over something so petty. Before I could try anything though, Spike jumped onto the table between them.

“Everypony just stop before you both say something you’ll regret,” he said, trying to sound reasonable. It was a pretty good attempt if you asked me. It wasn’t his fault that it failed.

“The way you whine about tiny problems makes me sick,” Ruby continued, ignoring Spike’s advice. “Other ponies live in poverty while you just sit in your fancy house, selling some useless rags!”

Rarity and Spike both gasped in shock. I felt my hooves go cold – it was never a good idea to insult someone’s life work, especially when it wasn’t justified. I jumped at my hooves, ready for anything.

“I…You…Get out of my house!” Rarity screamed, unshed tears in her eyes.

Ruby stomped her hoof on the table, making a dent in its wooden surface and stormed out of the kitchen. I could hear the entrance door slamming from here.

An uncomfortable silence hung in the room once again. Spike was looking at the dent absent-mindedly; Marcus just sat in his place, tapping some melody with his fingers. Rarity appeared hypnotized by his movements.

“I’m really sorry; my friend was way out of line here,” I said, drooping my ears. I felt guilty for some reason. “I guess I should go too…”

“Don’t be silly, dear. I’m not blaming you for what happened,” Rarity said with a forced smile.

She didn’t, but I did. I shouldn’t have rushed into a friendship with somepony I barely knew. Maybe the Sundae of the past had been a friend of hers, but I had no clue who Ruby really was. I had liked her at first, but now I wasn’t sure what to think.

“I overreacted a little too, I guess,” said Rarity, settling back on the chair, “But that’s no excuse for her rudeness.”

I silently nodded, examining my hoof that had suddenly become very interesting. Of course, I was just trying to mask my discomfort.

Another loud bang coming from the shop made us all jump in our seats. I turned to face the door, fully expecting Ruby to come in with guns blazing, but a blue pony stumbled into the kitchen instead; I could hear something falling behind her as she made her entrance.

It definitely wasn’t Ruby. This pony had a tighter body and looked much more athletic than my friend in general. She also was the owner of a pair of wings, which was obvious, since they stuck out from her sides fully open.

“Should have known you’d be here, Spike,” she grinned widely, winking at the little dragon. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere!”

Her eyes went wide when she noticed Marcus towering over everypony. He lifted his hand in greeting and gave her a friendly nod.

“Who in Tartarus are you?”

“Have some manners, Rainbow,” Rarity frowned at her. “They’re my guests.”

Rainbow, huh. It made a lot of sense considering her colorful mane. She was another one of Twilight’s famous friends I’d heard about from Starlight and Spike. At this point, I think I had met all of them. Or not… I had a vague feeling that there was one more pony I was missing.

“Eh, sorry, pal,” Rainbow ruffled her colorful mane with a hoof, making Rarity cringe in silent horror.

“No problem,” Marcus said calmly and introduced himself to Rainbow. “Me and Annie – or Sundae – are from another world. Spike will tell you the full story, if you want.”

Spike was about to open his mouth to start retelling the story yet again, but Rainbow stopped him with a hoof.

“It can wait,” she said him. “I’ve wasted enough time already looking for you. Let’s go.”

“What? Go where?” Spike asked in surprise.

“I’ll explain on the way,” Rainbow shot at him and went out of the door, fully expecting him to follow.

Spike remained in his place, crossing his arms on his chest. The pegasus returned a few seconds later, throwing an annoyed look at him, which didn’t concern Spike in the slightest.

“I swear, if it’s one of your pranks again…” Spike trailed off meaningfully.

Rainbow Dash growled in annoyance, flicking her tail wildly. She put a whole lot of effort into answering calmly.

“I’m telling you again – I’m sorry! I learned my lesson then and it won’t happen again. I need you for something else entirely.”

Spike still watched her suspiciously with his narrowed eyes. I could see that it would take much more than a simple denying act from Rainbow to convince him. But finally, Spike sighed.

“Fine. Tell me what it is…” he asked Rainbow with resignation. She didn’t need to be asked twice.

“I need a judge for a competition!” She exclaimed. “And who would be better than you?”

“Em, Twilight? She has experience with that kind of stuff,” Spike said, unmoved by Rainbow’s blatant flattery.

Rainbow Dash shook her head angrily, waving her mane all around. Her eyes flitted from Spike to everypony else in the room and finally stopped on Marcus. A wide smile appeared on her face.

“Hey, big guy,” she addressed him, “Are you up for being our referee since Spike got cold feet?”

I could see what was going on – Rainbow Dash wanted to play the chicken move on Spike. Her plan was transparent for me, but apparently not for Spike himself.

“Hey, I’m not afraid; I just don’t want to get into another one of your pranks,” Spike retorted, offended.

The pony smiled cunningly, seeing that her plan was succeeding.

“I told you, it’s not a prank,” Rainbow said more seriously. “Me and Applejack just had an argument and I want to settle it once and for all.”

“Oh my, I hope it’s nothing serious,” Rarity said, drooping her ears slightly. Rainbow just shrugged at that.

I looked at Rarity with concern. She had just been attacked by my friend and another fight between her own friends wasn’t something that she needed right now.

“It’s quite serious. Applejack doesn’t believe that I could eat more apples than her in one minute,” she said.

Rarity laughed at that for a couple of moments, but then stopped, noticing Rainbow’s frown. The pegasus hovered over the floor in agitation.

“This is serious! My reputation is at stake,” she assured us. “Let’s go, Spike. Applejack is getting everything ready on her farm.”

Before agreeing to anything, Spike looked at us apologetically.

“You won’t mind staying at Rarity’s, guys?” he said. “I’m sure it won’t take too long.”

“Can’t we just go with you? I’m kind of bored anyway,” said Marcus.

I wasn’t sure what to say myself. I wanted to stay with Rarity to make sure she wasn’t too upset by my friend’s behavior earlier, but I also wanted to stay close to Marcus. Happily, my problems were solved by Rarity words.

“I’ll go too,” she said with a sigh. “I’m not in the mood to work anyway.”

Great, now we didn’t have to separate. Spike rapidly nodded in agreement, glad that Rarity was coming along. Her horn glowed and the empty cups from the table flew off to the kitchen sink to be dealt with later. We all went to where Rainbow was leading us.

I was a little worried for my friend Ruby. What would she do if if she decided to come back and apologize, but didn’t find us here? And where did she run off too in in this town that was unfamiliar to her?

Ponyville appeared like a nice and quiet place, so I was sure nothing bad would happen to her while wandering alone on the streets. It wasn’t even dark yet, so she should be fine. I tried to put those thoughts aside – it was her own fault anyway. In case of trouble, she could just return to Twilight and wait for us there.

***

The farm was outside of Ponyville itself, which was to be expected. We walked on the road along an apple orchard. The apple trees were planted on both sides, protected by a small fence.

Rainbow Dash hovered above the road in front of us, lazily flapping her wings to stay in the air. Marcus and I were looking at her flight in fascination. It would be awesome to stay in the air like that; too bad I didn’t have wings.

“Are you enjoying the view?” Rarity asked out of the blue.

I suddenly realized that me looking at Rainbow’s behind could be interpreted wrongly by any observer. Judging by Marcus’ reddening face, he had realized the same thing.

“W-what do you mean?” I asked, my cheeks burning in embarrassment.

“Why, the orchard, of course,” Rarity said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “What did you think I was talking about?”

“Exactly this,” I lied, waving my hoof to encompass the surrounding trees. They really did look pretty.

I glanced at Rarity and she gave me a mischievous wink. She had been playing with me! That made me blush even more for some reason. Good thing Rainbow was too concentrated on flying to pay attention to anything around her.

“Yep, the trees here are cool,” she said, proving my guesses wrong. “Applejack sure knows her stuff. Still gonna beat her, though.”

“I’m not so sure about that, Rainbow…” Spike said from behind, panting heavily.

“You’re the judge, Spike, so you’re supposed to be the neutral one here,” Rainbow retorted. Spike just shrugged and concentrated his efforts on keeping up with everypony else.

His legs were pretty short compared to the others, especially to Marcus. I wondered if somepony would carry him for a while to make it easier on him. I saw Twilight doing that on our way to her castle, so I wouldn’t be insulting ponies if I offered the idea.

The more I thought about that, the more I realized that I was the only option for him. Rarity didn’t strike me as the kind of pony who would carry others on her back and Rainbow…she just looked so tense right now.

Truth be told, I had always wondered how horses felt when they carried people on their back; now it was my chance to finally find out. Here it goes.

“Em, Spike?” I asked him, not sure how to bring it up. He looked at me in question. “I see that you’re tired. Hop on my back; I’ll carry you the rest of the way.”

Spike jumped on me without any questions in one experienced move. He wasn’t very heavy; in fact, I barely felt his weight. I continued trotting forward just as lightly as before that.

The others took my action for granted except for Marcus, who gave me a funny look. I ignored it – he was the one who thought I should embrace being a pony in the first place after all, so he didn’t have any reason to be surprised.

I caught a movement in the corner of my eye and sharply looked to the side, but there was nothing except for some trees and a lone haystack just lying there. I thought it was out of place, but what did I know about farming…I could swear it twitched a little as I turned away from it, but I wasn’t paying attention to it anymore.

We didn’t have to walk far after that. Rainbow took a turn and we got to the entrance in the form a wooden arch, decorated with fake red apples.

The farm yard was right behind it. A big red barn with windows stood there along with smaller buildings, most likely for the animals. A few small fields spread out into the open space behind the fence with some crops on them.

An orange pony with a large brown stetson hat on her head was putting a large bowl of apples on a table. She saw us too and waved her hoof in greeting. I recognized her as Applejack from previous descriptions. She trotted towards us to meet us.

“Howdy, y’all,” she welcomed us with a weird accent that was somehow familiar to me. “See you brought some new friends to see your humiliation, Dash.” She ignored red-faced Rainbow and turned to me and Marcus. “Name’s Applejack.”

We introduced ourselves in turn and we shook hooves. It still felt weird to do it without fingers, but I was handling it a lot better than before.

“So now that you all know each other, let’s start!” Rainbow called to us from the table impatiently.

Spike jumped off my back, went to the table and climbed on top of it easily. He looked at the two big bowls of apples curiously and scratched his head.

“Maybe you should explain the rules to me since I’m the judge and all?” he asked Rainbow.

“Oh, right,” she chuckled nervously, while Applejack took her place on the opposite side of the table from her. “You see these apples? There is supposed to be the same number of them in each bowl. Me and Applejack are going to eat them for one minute and whoever has more apples in their bowl by the end is the loser!” she looked at Applejack pointedly and the pony answered with a snort. “Just say it and we’ll begin!”

“Aren’t you going to make sure there’s the same amount of apples in each bowl?” Marcus asked, crossing his arms on his chest.

Applejack gave him a flat look, while Rarity smiled instead.

“No one ever doubts Applejack’s honesty,” she told him as if it explained everything.

Marcus didn’t appear convinced though and neither was I. As much as I wanted to believe everypony was pure of heart, even the most admirable of people, or ponies in this case, wouldn’t resist to help themselves a little in a situation like this. No one would notice if a few apples were missing from Applejack’s bowl before the competition started.

Anyway, the competition was about to begin despite what Marcus and I thought about it. Spike counted to three and waved his hand sharply, signaling the start.

Both competing ponies assaulted the apples in front of them with ferocity. Rainbow was gulping down one after another, not even bothering to chew them. Applejack was much more calm about it, but despite her casual attitude, or maybe because of it, her apples disappeared into her mouth faster than Rainbow’s.

Just a few seconds were left before the end, when Rainbow, seeing that she was about to lose, doubled her efforts. Spike whistled, putting a stop to their activities.

I couldn’t say who had won just by looking at the bowls. Both were half-empty and anypony might have been the victorious one here. Looks like Spike would have to count the apples first.

“Are you ready to lose, Applejack?” Rainbow poked the farm pony in her chest.

“Only after you, Rainbow Dash,” she answered with her own poke.

While they were bantering with each other, Spike was doing his job. He overturned one bowl, throwing all the apples onto the ground and was picking them out one by one. Then he repeated the same operation on the second bowl. When he was done, he took a piece of parchment and wrote down the results.

“About time!” exclaimed Rainbow, hovering above the table anxiously. “So, who’s won?”

Applejack leaned forward, no doubt interested in the answer as much as her pegasus friend. Spike held a dramatic pause, cleared his throat and took the pose of a royal announcer.

“The winner is…” he looked at both ponies, squirming nervously, “Applejack!”

“What?!” Rainbow’s face turned into a scowl.

Applejack, on the other hoof, looked happy. She smiled smugly at Rainbow Dash, who had landed on the grass, smashing a stray apple under her hooves.

“No need to waste a perfectly good apple, Dash,” she commented with a slight frown. Rainbow glowered at her instead of an answer.

“Congratulations, I guess,” she said through her teeth.

Applejack nodded gratefully. She approached Rainbow and patted her on her back.

“You were doing great,” she said reassuringly and after a small pause added, “For a pegasus.”

Rainbow growled in annoyance and took off into the sky, disappearing from view. Applejack chuckled heartily at that. Rarity trotted to her, looking up into the sky where Rainbow had gone.

“That was a little too much, don’t you think, darling?” she said with disapproval.

I silently agreed with her. Rainbow had already lost, there was no reason to rub it in. She didn’t look like the type of pony who enjoyed losing. I didn’t know anyone who would, to be honest.

“Don’t you fret over it,” Applejack waved her hoof dismissively. “You know she would be insufferable if she had won.”

“That’s true,” Rarity admitted with a sigh. “But still…”

Applejack shrugged, showing that she wasn’t interested in continuing this conversation. Instead, she turned her attention to Marcus and looked him over.

“Never seen your type around here. Marcus, right?” she waited for his nod of confirmation and continued. “Are you Spike’s friend from the Dragon Lands?”

The Dragon Lands? It was probably the place where Spike was from. It made sense that the other dragons lived there, considering he was the only dragon I had seen so far. But Spike looked nothing like Marcus, except for the fact that they both were bipedal.

“He’s not a dragon, Applejack,” Spike pointed out. “But you’re right, he’s not from around here. He and Sundae, the pony you see here, are actually from…”

He told her our story from the beginning. I noticed a few small details that hadn’t been there before, but I didn’t bother to correct Spike. If anything, it just made the whole story sound cooler and less depressing.

We finished eating the remaining apples from the bowl while listening to the story. They were exceptionally delicious and juicy. Without a doubt, they were the best apples I had ever eaten in my whole life!

“These apples are perfect,” Marcus put my exact thoughts into words, taking a bite from a big red apple in his palm.

“We pride ourselves in the quality of our apples here at Sweet Apple Acres,” answered Applejack with a bow.

Soon, Applejack said that she had to get back to work. We helped her to take the table back into the barn and cleaned up the yard a little. We left the farm in a good mood.

***

After getting back to Ponyville, we decided to head straight for the castle. We all were a little tired after walking through most of the town, though I wasn’t so sure about Spike, since he had been sitting on my back for half of the way.

Rarity decided to stick with us, saying that she wanted to visit Twilight. Spike was only too happy to hear that, but I was slightly worried. Ruby was probably waiting for us in the castle and going there with the pony she’d had a fight with wasn’t the best idea.

But I couldn’t express my complaints – it wasn’t even my castle to begin with; I couldn’t just forbid ponies to visit the Princess, especially if they were her friends.

The castle was already close, when a pink furball suddenly bumped into Spike, throwing him off my back onto the ground. The furball revealed herself to be the first pony I’d met in Ponyville – Pinkie Pie.

“Spike! What a surprise to meet you here!” she jumped on her hooves, helping Spike to get up.

“I actually live here,” he answered, pointing his hoof at the castle behind her.

Pinkie giggled at his answer.

“I know, silly,” she said and then whispered something into his ear. My ears swiveled in their direction automatically, but I couldn’t pick up any discreet sound.

“Oh, I see,” Spike nodded and turned to us. “We can’t go to the castle yet. Apparently, there is a big clean up going on right now.”

Pinkie nodded a few times with a wide smile on her face, confirming Spike’s words. I wondered why she was so happy. Did she love cleaning up so much?

“How long will it take?” Rarity inquired calmly.

Pinkie considered something in her mind before answering:

“Come back in an hour; everything should be ready by then.”

I wasn’t completely sure, but something bothered me about the whole deal. Pinkie was looking at me mysteriously with a foxy grin, which made me kind of nervous.

Spike jumped on my back while I was deep in thought and I jerked in surprise. He patted me on my side to calm me down.

“Let’s go, everypony,” he said. “There is a park nearby, we can spend some time there.”

***

The next hour was spent doing nothing in the park. I had a long conversation with Rarity about the importance of clothes for humans, while lazily lying on the grass. Rarity was talking with me from a bench – she didn’t want to ruin her coat.

Rarity was interested to know that humans, unlike ponies, wore clothes most of the time. She threw a curious glance at Marcus, who was busy talking with Spike in a distance.

“I wonder how you humans look under all of these clothes,” she said thoughtfully.

Her offhand comment made me blush and she noticed that. A smile of amusement grew on her face.

“Did I say something inappropriate, darling?” Rarity asked innocently.

I carefully considered what to say and in the end, I decided to answer honestly.

“Yes, kind of,” Rarity’s smile changed to a concerned frown and I rushed to calm the pony. “But not that much! It’s just that humans think it’s indecent to be out nude. I had the same problem at first, but now I’m kind of used to it…”

“I guessed as much,” nodded Rarity seriously. “There were pony cultures in the distant past that had the same ideas and I thought it might be the case with humans. I’m sorry if my little teasing got to you.”

“It’s fine,” I assured her. I wasn’t upset, I just wasn’t used to such jokes.

The conversation switched to more innocent topics like the weather. It wasn’t just some pleasant nonsense that people would talk about usually; here in Equestria, the weather was truly interesting with all the pegasi responsible for making it.

“I can make something specifically for you,” Rarity suddenly offered, taking me by surprise.

It took me a moment to come up with an answer that wouldn’t upset her.

“I don’t think I could pay for it right now…” I started unsurely, but Rarity interrupted me with a hoof gesture.

“Don’t be ridiculous, darling,” she smiled at me. “You can consider it as my welcome gift to you. Come to my shop tomorrow and I’ll take the measurements.”

I nodded gratefully to Rarity – since it was a gift, there was no point in denying it.

I felt like already more than an hour had passed since our meeting with Pinkie, when Spike finally approached us. He was sitting on Marcus’s shoulders and looked at us from high up.

“Found a new ride, I see,” I commented dryly. Not that it was anything important for me anyway.

Spike chuckled, rubbing his spikes nervously. Rarity watched him in amusement and I let out a tiny smile too.

“Yep,” he finally shrugged. “Much better view from here. Anyway,” – he continued after a small pause – “we must go to the castle. I’m sure everything should be ready by now.”

He gave me a small wink, which I wasn’t sure if I understood. Was he trying to hint at something? I didn’t know, but I guess I would find out more at the castle.

I stood on all fours and stretched myself. My muscles were stiff from the long period of lying on the grass. Rarity stretched as well, but with much more grace than I could possibly hope for.

We walked back to the castle, which wasn’t far away from here. Ponies on the street were avoiding us by a large margin, which was better than the outright fear they’d shown in the morning. I was happy to see that – it would be much more difficult for Marcus to stay here if everypony ran away in panic at the first sight of him.

Soon we were at the castle’s main doors. No guards were in sight, which wasn’t surprising. Twilight had told us that she’d had no time to set up her own guard. I found it a little strange – in my mind it was too dangerous to leave such important objects without some sort of protection. Maybe Equestria was safer than Earth or Twilight was just that confident in her magic abilities…

Marcus opened the door wide open and we followed him. It was unusually dark inside and it only got darker when the doors closed behind us. I couldn’t see a thing. A worry settled in my heart – I felt a presence of someone in the darkness around us. Is there a switch somewhere to turn on the light?

“SURPRISE!” a loud shout into my face dropped me onto my haunches.

The light flashed brightly and it took a few moments for my eyes to adjust. When they did, however, I saw Pinkie Pie with a colorful party hat on her head standing right in front of me, staring into my eyes with a wide grin. She put another hat on me and then did the same with Marcus – she had to jump to reach his head.

A lot of ponies were cheering in the foyer of the castle. With a sense of relief, I noticed Ruby among them. She was still my friend, despite her rough behavior earlier. She lowered her gaze after meeting my eyes.

I would have liked to talk to her, but more pressing matters were demanding my attention. For example, what the hay was happening?! Had Pinkie Pie organized all of this for some reason?

“This is a party for you!” she poked a hoof at my chest to leave no doubt who she had meant. “And for you too!” she pointed at Marcus now. My friend blinked stupidly, dumbfounded by this turn of events. Pinkie giggled, seeing his reaction.

“Welcome to Equestria!”

***

The party had been going on for hours. I had never been a party girl – the only party I had ever been to was our ex-boss’s birthday at the store. But this time was different.

Pinkie was bouncing between me and Marcus, trying to engage us in different activities. Even I had found some of them fun, like Pin the Tail on the Pony. Marcus had tried it once and I laughed hard when he pinned the tail somewhere around the drawn pony’s muzzle.

A lot of ponies were also interested in our story, but I quickly grew tired of repeating it, so I delegated this to Spike since he already knew it perfectly. He didn’t mind – he seemed to enjoy the popularity.

Some curious and brave ponies had approached Marcus to start a conversation. I would have liked to stay and listen, but I had other things on my mind.

Ruby walked up to me when I was talking with Rarity about different techniques of grooming your coat. I didn’t want to make a bad impression on the local ponies with my disheveled appearance and Rarity, with her perfect coat, clearly knew how to achieve it.

I could see Rarity tense up when Ruby came to us. She watched my friend suspiciously, fully expecting her to throw another tantrum, but I knew that wasn’t it. Ruby had come to apologize.

“I’m very sorry, Rarity,” she said, drooping her ears. “I kind of overreacted…”

Rarity was silent for a moment, considering her answer. I put a hoof on her withers for support and she sighed quietly.

“Everypony has their rough moments,” Rarity said finally and her face softened. “The important thing is that you’re ready to admit your wrongs and seek forgiveness.”

Ruby’s ears perked up and a smile grew on her face. She shook a hoof with Rarity and joined our conversation. Turns out she knew a few grooming techniques of her own. I couldn’t have guessed it by looking at her worn out coat.

“Not to be rude, darling, but your coat needs a little more caring,” Rarity brought up what was on my mind. “Perhaps you’d like to visit the spa with me. I have a visit scheduled for tomorrow; I could take both of you along with me.”

Ruby frowned slightly, having been reminded of her less than perfect condition, but I knew that Rarity was only trying to help. Before Ruby could say something that she’d regret, I took Rarity’s generous offer, answering for both of us.

“Excellent!” Rarity exclaimed excitedly. “I love going to the spa, but it’s a little boring going there alone.”

We chatted for some more before we all got sucked into another one of Pinkie’s games. It included a lot of jumping and by the time we were done I was barely standing on my hooves. Rarity and Ruby had been lost among the other guests for me, so I decided to look for Starlight.

By questioning random ponies, I learned that she had left just recently to stroll outside. I had also started to feel the need for some air. I approached the door unnoticed by anypony and slipped out onto the street.

It was still day outside. I looked around, hoping to see Starlight somewhere close to the entrance, but no luck. Perhaps she was walking around the castle. Trotting down the stairs, I went searching for her.

I checked behind the castle first. There was no Starlight, but I had found a beautiful lake instead. The water was so clear and alluring in such a hot weather, but I fought back the urge to jump in. I wasn’t sure in my ability to swim as a pony and the lake could be deep for all I knew.

A sound of hooves approaching from behind distracted me from admiring the lake and I turned around, hoping to see Starlight, but it was an unknown stallion. He had no wings or horn, so I knew he was an earth pony.

I hadn’t seen him at the party. Although I wasn’t expecting to remember everypony there, this stallion had a distinct dark blue, almost black coat and a shortly cut mane. A weird necklace composed of small flasks hung on his neck. He stopped at a small distance from me.

“Hello?” I greeted him, unsure what to think. Something in him had made me nervous.

The pony didn’t answer me, continuing to stand there, quietly watching me. I decided that that was enough and walked away. Or at least tried to – the stallion blocked my way. I attempted to walk around him, but he didn’t let me.

I stomped my hoof angrily and snorted, trying to hide my uneasiness. I was sure that nothing would happen to me literally in Twilight’s backyard, but–

A sudden movement from him broke my train of thought. The pony ripped off a flask out of his weird necklace and threw it under my legs. It blew up before I could react, throwing me off my legs onto the ground.

I cried out from a sharp pain in my foreleg, but I pushed it to the back of my mind. But there wasn’t any time for injuries – my life was in danger.

My attempts to get back on my hooves were effectively stopped by a hoof hitting my face. Stars shot in my eyes and I got thrown back again, feeling a bloody lip with my tongue.

The situation wasn’t developing in my favor, that’s for sure, but I had a trump card up my sleeve, so to say. Remembering Starlight’s lessons, I concentrated some magic into my horn and released it in the direction of the attacker.

The results were disappointing to say the least. The stallion ignored my magic blast completely – an aura flashed brightly, deflecting it to the side harmlessly. I grunted in frustration.

“Why are you doing this?!” I asked in the small pause between the next move.

I got no answer to my question, however. Instead, the stallion took another flask and prepared to throw it at me. I flinched and scrambled back, knowing it couldn’t be anything good.

“What in Tartarus is going on?” a familiar female voice demanded.

The stallion switched his attention from me to the voice’s owner. Starlight stood there, a furious expression on her face. Without hesitation, the attacker threw his flask in her direction and I saw a powerful explosion engulfing the mare’s figure.

I didn’t have the time to panic when the smoke dissipated, revealing Starlight completely unharmed. A glistering see-through crystal enveloped her body, having protected her from the blast. It disappeared in the next moment and she made a step forward, her horn glowing bright.

“My turn,” she said.

A beam shot out from her horn, hitting the stallion in the chest. A smug grin appeared on his face when the beam slid off to the side, leaving a scorched mark on the grass. Starlight frowned in confusion.

The stallion took one more flask, throwing it in my direction, but Starlight hit it in the air, sending it flying right into the lake’s calm water. The attacker frowned in annoyance, but before he could do something else, a second, much more powerful beam struck him.

No magical aura had helped him this time. He flew off, hitting the castle wall with a scream of pain and fell onto the ground unconscious. Or worse – I couldn’t really tell, considering the force with which he was hit.

Starlight wasn’t taking any chances. She conjured up a rope with her magic and tied the stallion up, removing the flask necklace from his neck and carefully levitating it to the grass some distance from us. Then she finally turned her worried face to me.

It was the last thing I saw, because at that moment my wounds finally got the best of me and I closed my eyes, everything fading into darkness.

Part III - Chapter 10: Recovery

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Chapter 10 – Recovery

I woke up to find myself in a dusky room. All the windows were covered by curtains, I could see the sun shining through the edges so I knew it was day outside. It took me a few seconds to remember the attack and I shivered when I did so. It was the first time someone had done that to me – I had never even been mugged before! And here some pony was trying to kill me for real. At least he failed, judging by the fact that I had woken up in the first place.

Just as I thought that, a dull pain entered my head. I cringed and wanted to rub it with my hooves, hoping in vain that it would pass, but moving my hoof only caused additional pain. Right, the blast I had suffered had likely done some damage to me. I stopped the attempts to move it and only now noticed the cast that had been applied to it.

I guessed that I had probably been taken to a hospital after Starlight had taken care of the assailant. I visualized the fight again in my head – it was awesome. I couldn’t even do the simple task of opening the curtains with my magic so far, but seeing what Starlight could do had strengthened my resolve to study it. It had always been my dream, even though I thought magic didn’t exist when I lived among humans.

I threw off the blanket and rolled on my bed, trying to keep my injured foreleg immobilized close to my body. Getting to the floor was difficult with only three legs, but I managed somehow. I smirked at that thought – I had been using only two legs before and now even three weren’t good enough for me.

Grabbing the curtain with my teeth, I pulled it to the side, finally inviting the sunny day into my gloomy hospital chamber. I instantly regretted it though when the bright light burned my unadjusted eyes. I hissed in pain and shut them to give them some time to get used to the blinding daylight.

Before they could though, the door in my room had opened and I heard some hoofsteps approaching me from behind. I blinked rapidly to readjust faster and I turned to greet the pony who would probably be a doctor. I was happy to see Starlight instead.

The mare wore a calm expression on her face, but I saw a worry in her eyes. She glanced at my foreleg that I was keeping close to my body.

“I’m glad you woke up, Sundae,” she said with relief in her voice. “You were unconscious for a whole day. How are you feeling?”

“Pretty beat up,” I answered honestly, getting a sympathetic nod from Starlight.

Standing on just three hooves was increasingly difficult, so I went back to bed, but stumbled on the way and would have fallen down on my face if not for Starlight catching me in her magic just a mere inch from the hard surface. I let out a frightened chuckle.

“Your magic saves me once again,” I said as she levitated me directly onto the bed; my body felt tingly being embraced by her magic aura. I took a comfortable position on my back so I would avoid lying on my hurt foreleg.

Starlight just shrugged in response.

“Some ponies say that I should rely less on magic to solve my problems,” she said neutrally, watching my reaction.

“Well, I’m not the one to complain after you saved my life with it,” I said, smiling at her friendly. “In fact, I want to learn it even more now so I’d be prepared for something like that in the future.”

Starlight frowned at my words. She moved the chair close to my bed and settled on it before answering.

“Something like that just doesn’t happen in Ponyville,” she shook her head angrily. “I captured the pony who attacked you and he’s been put in jail for now. He hasn’t revealed the reason for attacking you yet, but seeing how well-prepared he was, I can tell he’s not a simple mugger. No mugger would be dumb enough to attack ponies right behind Twilight’s castle.”

“I figured as much,” I admitted. My next words were pure guesswork. “Could it be somehow connected to the Doctor that Ruby told us about? She was hellbent on claiming his involvement in my disappearance and you said that my memory loss is of magical nature.”

Starlight waved her hoof in the air, looking unsure on what to say.

“I don’t want to blame anypony without any solid proof on my hooves, but I have to admit this Doctor sounds shady,” she said thoughtfully. “But you shouldn’t worry about that for now. The doctor – our hospital doctor – said that you might have a concussion from the blast, so you have to stay in bed for a few days.”

The door opened again and a pony in a white medical gown and a stethoscope hanging from his neck came in, just like he was waiting for his cue behind it. He calmly approached my bed and made a gesture for Starlight to step aside, to which she complied without question. The doctor was the real authority in the hospital after all.

“Do you feel any pains?” he asked, skipping the introduction.

I was a little thrown off by his style, but I’d met doctors like him before. He was the kind of doctor who treated his patients without wasting time on any unnecessary pleasantries, strictly business.

“I do. My head hurts a little and I get a little dizzy when I stand up on all fours,” I answered in kind.

He took a chart from my bed and wrote something down. I watched curiously how he was using his mouth to write since he didn’t have any horn to use levitation for it. The doctor was finally done and put the chart aside, meeting my eyes.

“You have a small concussion, just like I thought,” he said without any preamble. “You can choose to stay in the hospital for a few days or go home under the condition that you’d stay in bed for at least three days to avoid any complications. You must check out in the foyer if you choose the latter.”

Having said that, he left the room without saying goodbye. I wasn’t upset – he probably had a lot of patients like me and he couldn’t just make friends with anypony he came across. It wouldn’t hurt if he was more friendly, though. At least he’d allowed me to leave if I wanted to and that was exactly what I was going to do.
***

Leaving the hospital was as easy as the doctor claimed. Walking from it to the castle was another matter entirely. Starlight supported me from the side and made sure I wouldn’t fall again if I stumbled on something. We made it to the castle just an hour later at my slow pace.

The party had long since been over and the main hall had been cleaned up after it. Everything looked cold and empty now without all the party supplies and happy ponies around, so I felt my ears slightly drooping. Maybe it was just me, but Twilight should really use some warmer design in her castle – she’s the Princess of Friendship after all.

Speaking of which, the mare herself had appeared from the side corridor to greet us. I gave her a reassuring smile to show that I was fine, but Twilight looked anxious nonetheless.

“Sundae, I’m so sorry…” she apologized as soon as she got close enough to have a proper conversation.

It took me a moment to realize what she was apologizing for, but it wasn’t really difficult to guess. In the little time I’d known Twilight personally and from all the stories I’d heard about her, I knew the Princess had a tendency to blame herself for what wasn’t really her fault. An attempt on my life in her own backyard was just one of those things.

“Don’t apologize to me, Twilight,” I said a little more harshly than I intended to, judging by the pony’s flat ears and widened eyes. “I mean, you don’t have to apologize to me. It wasn’t your fault.”

Twilight wasn’t convinced by my claim even after receiving a supportive nod from Starlight. She dismissed my words with a wave of her hoof.

“But it was,” she insisted. “If I hadn’t delayed the formation of my own branch of the guard, like Princess Celestia had suggested, they would have protected you from that criminal. Hay, they wouldn’t have even let the pony get here in the first place!”

“You don’t know this,” said Starlight, frowning in annoyance at Twilight’s self-attack.

While they tried to figure out whose fault it was, I heard Marcus approaching us. His heavy steps sounded much different from ponies’ hooves, so I knew it was him immediately. I turned around to face him with a wide smile only to get grabbed and taken into a powerful hug.

“Careful with the leg,” I hissed in pain when Marcus accidentally disturbed it.

“Sorry,” he apologized, releasing me at once and carefully putting me on the floor like I was made of ice. “I’m just glad that you’re okay…mostly.”

“Yeah…Our first week in Equestria and we’ve both already been in a hospital.” I chuckled.

Twilight and Starlight stopped their arguing after Marcus had come and I was escorted to my own room. I was interested to see it for the first time, since that would be the room I was going to spend a lot of time in. I hoped it wasn’t too luxurious though, that would just make me feel weird.

My fears proved to be baseless – the room was like you would find in a good four-star hotel, minus the electronics obviously. There was a big bed, a dresser and a few chairs, along with a table. One small window was the only source of light until Twilight tapped a panel on the wall to light up the magical lanterns under the ceiling.

“That’s going to be your room from now on. Hope you like it – I furnished it personally,” Twilight said, waving a hoof over it. “You must rest in bed for now until your full recovery. If you need food, just yell and Spike will bring it to you.”

“I’m not that injured,” I protested, standing tall on my three healthy hooves. “I could handle a walk to the kitchen on my own.”

“You sure about this?” Marcus asked with concern hiding in his voice. “Don’t try to play cool, your health is serious business.”

I didn’t want to argue with Marcus and point out his own behavior while injured, which was the opposite of his own advice, so I just shrugged, leaving my answer open. Gladly, he decided not to press the issue.

We walked into the room together and I immediately threw myself into one of the chairs. How nice it was to finally sit down; walking on three hooves turned out to be pretty tiresome. Although not as hard as it would be on one leg, I suppose. There were a lot of pros and cons about being a quadruped and I tried to be positive about this whole situation of suddenly becoming one.

I glanced around the room, trying to think of anything to do next, but found nothing that caught my eye. I sighed; with strolling around the town being out of question for a few days, I didn’t know how to spend my free time. This world didn’t even have Internet!

“Eh, Starlight?” I asked for the mare’s attention as she was about to leave with Twilight. They both turned to me. “Is it a good time to ask you to teach me some magic, as you had promised?”

“Well, I kind of had some plans for today…” began Starlight, but seeing my sullen face made her change her mind, “But they can wait.”

“No practicing magic today though,” interjected Twilight. “With her concussion it would be a bad idea. You should teach her some theory first anyway. I have some books on the matter and I would be happy to bring them to you if you wait a few minutes.”

Having said this, Twilight blinked out of existence with a flash of light. Marcus and I were dumbfounded with her sudden disappearance, gazing at the empty spot where she had just been. Starlight chuckled upon seeing our reactions and disappeared as well in the blink of an eye in a flash of light of her own.

“Not every unicorn is able to master the teleportation spell,” she said suddenly from behind our backs, making me twitch in surprise and almost fall out of my chair. “But if they do, it can be a pretty useful spell.”

Marcus shook his head in amazement. He glanced at me and I could notice maybe a tiny bit of jealousy in his expression, but it disappeared quickly.

“I can’t wait to begin studying already,” I smiled excitedly. “I hope to be one of those lucky unicorns.”

“We shall see,” Starlight said with her own smile. “I’m glad to see such an eagerness in my students.”

With another flash of purple light, Twilight materialized in the middle of the room, hugging a stack of old, heavy books in her hooves. She put them on a table with a grunt. Starlight lifted her eyebrow and Twilight smiled sheepishly.

“I think those books would be useful for Sundae, since she doesn’t remember anything about magic,” she explained. “She will have to relearn everything from the level of a foal.”

She she listed the book titles for us and gave a small review for each one. I retained little of it, but I planned to read them all anyway, so I wasn’t worried.

“You can handle things from here, Starlight,” Twilight said finally. “Celestia sent me a lot of resumes to pick my own guards from and I don’t know who to pick without meeting with them all personally, so I probably have to go to Canterlot and… And I’m rambling now. Have fun studying!”

Twilight left by the usual means this time, almost running out of the room and leaving the three of us alone. I looked at Starlight expectedly, hoping for her to begin, but she ignored my stare, being deep in thought herself. I had to cough gently to snap her out of it.

“Sorry, I was just thinking of the best way to start,” she said nervously. “It’s actually my first time teaching somepony magic and I don’t want to mess it up.”

As it turned out, I had to learn much more than just magic. We quickly discovered my lack of knowledge of the Equestrian language that was called Ponish by the ponies. Unfortunately, the books were written primarily in it, so Starlight had to explain the magical theory to me in her own words.

Marcus was looking bored the whole time right before we went from theory to practice. Despite what Twilight had said, I felt powerful enough to handle a few simple spells and I convinced Starlight to let me try.

The books proved to be useful then. After knowing the basics, it was easier for me to summon the magic to my horn and levitate one off the table. I gazed on the shaking book hovering in the air with a giddy smile. Starlight gave out a pleased smile and I lost my concentration, dropping the book back onto the table.

“Good job, Sundae,” she said, patting me on my shoulder. “You’re going to learn teleportation in no time with such enthusiasm.”

It was hard to tell if she was serious or just joking – her intonation suggested either way, but I decided to take it as a compliment.

We had to stop practicing soon after that because of the increasing headache I started to get each time I summoned magic. Starlight reassured me that it was to be expected with unexperienced users such as me and suggested to continue the practice at another time.

With the magical show over, Marcus decided to explore the castle. I was slightly saddened by his leave – I liked to show off my success to him, but he had the right to do his own things, rather than watch me all the time.

“Your ability to cast spells depends on your horn, as you probably guessed,” Starlight continued her lesson. “A unicorn casting a spell draws magic from their own body, unless you’re using something else as a source, so you must be careful not to overexhaust it – it could lead to serious health consequences. But with the right training, you could expand your inner reserves and mana recovery. I’m going to teach you some useful techniques now, so that you can practice them every day.”

We spent the next few hours mastering the theory, until finally Starlight decided to call it a day. Despite my desire to learn more, I had to agree. There was only so much I could learn at once – my head was about to explode from all the new information as it was. Besides, it was already getting dark outside and I felt hungry from missing a dinner.

Starlight helped me to reach the kitchen through the dimly lit passages of the castle. It was kind of spooky here at night; I wouldn’t want to wander here alone. Good thing Starlight’s horn glowed much more brightly than the crystals along the walls.

We found an azure mare with a green mane waiting for us in the kitchen. Perhaps waiting was the wrong word, since she hadn’t noticed me and Starlight until we were right behind her back. She was cooking something delicious if the smell was any indication. I tapped her on her flank with a devious smile and snorted, seeing as she jumped into the air with a yelp.

“Sundae!” she exclaimed accusingly, turning around to face me. “I’m the one who’s supposed to play pranks on you!”

“Times change,” I answered playfully. I knew she wasn’t really mad because she could barely contain her own smile.

Ruby chuckled and booped me on my muzzle. Then she stepped to the side to demonstrate her culinary masterpiece – a pizza! I was almost drooling from the very sight of it. Ruby was going to share it with me, for sure. She didn’t make it just for herself, did she?

“You want a piece?” she asked in a suspiciously sweet voice. I was too enthralled by the pizza to pay attention to it though.

“Of course!” I answered, holding back the desire to just bite off a piece myself already.

Ruby took a knife and reached out as to cut the pizza, but stopped at the last moment. She made a fake pout and said:

“Sorry, it’s not ready yet,” she laughed at my crestfallen expression and booped me again. “You should have seen your face! Seriously though, just wait for ten more minutes and I’ll bring it to the dining room. I made it for everyone.”

The dining room was right next to the kitchen and Starlight walked me there. I picked a chair and sat there waiting, while Starlight went out to gather the others.

Ruby was the first one to return, holding a big tray with a steaming pizza on her back. My eyes followed the pizza along, fearing that Ruby would drop it at any moment, but she set it on the table skillfully and jumped on a chair close to me.

“I’m glad to see you’re okay, Sunny,” she said seriously, embracing me in a tight hug. I carefully patted her on her back in return. “It’s the Doctor’s doing, I just know it.”

“You must tell me more about that Doctor sometime,” I offered. If somepony wanted to harm me, I had to know more about them than just a name after all.

Ruby nodded and smiled encouragingly at me.

“I most certainly will. I’m going to visit the police station tomorrow and talk with that nasty pony who attacked you myself,” she stated, wrinkling her eyebrows angrily. “He would tell me all about the Doctor…”

If the police here was anything close to the human world, the chances that they would let her interrogate their suspects were pretty slim, but she had to know it better than me, I suppose, as she was the local one in this world. I simply nodded, acknowledging her claim.

I didn’t want to talk about the bad things for now though, so I switched the topic to something more neutral. It was about time I learned something about my past – other than the Doctor’s involvement in it – and who would be a better source than my best friend?

“I was meaning to ask you, Ruby,” I began and she looked at me curiously, “Tell me what I used to be like before I disappeared.”

Her face changed to a more serious expression and we sat in silence for a few minutes while she was collecting her thoughts, deciding on the best way to answer my question.

“Well,” Ruby finally began, “We haven’t spent much time together since you returned yet, but you act pretty much the same as before. You’re still your good old self, even if you don’t remember a thing yet.”

I simply nodded, accepting her short answer. Too bad I couldn’t remember if she herself had changed in all these years. I really should find a way to restore my memories somehow…

We spent the rest of the time discussing the Princess and her friends that we’d met. Ruby missed our meeting with Rainbow and Applejack because of her fight with Rarity, so I described them to her in detail.

Ruby’s face shadowed when I mentioned Rarity, which concerned me slightly. It seemed that despite her apology, she still had some problems with her. I liked Rarity and wanted to get to know her better and it wouldn’t be nice if these two had a grudge against each other.

I decided against bringing up the issue right now, when we were about to have a delicious pizza. Rarity had offered me to visit her shop to make a dress for me and this was the perfect excuse to drag Ruby along. That was the plan for tomorrow.

The doors finally opened and a couple of ponies, a dragon and a human walked in. Spike stopped to sniff the divine smell of pizza in the air and a hungry, toothy smile appeared on his face.

“Wow, that smells delicious!” he exclaimed, grabbing a seat close to Twilight.

The Princess agreed with Spike, though she behaved more moderately.

“That does smell good. Did you bake it yourself, Ruby?” Twilight asked and got a happy nod from her in return. “I should just hire you as a cook and solve your employment problem.” She added half-jokingly.

Ruby blushed slightly at the royal praise and looked to the side.

“Let’s just eat the pizza first before making any rash decisions, Your Highness,” Ruby told her humbly, cutting a piece and laying it on Twilight’s plate.

A light frown flickered on Twilight’s face, but a smile quickly took its place. “You can call me just Twilight,” she told her and seeing the unsure look on the pony’s face she added: “Your friend Sundae does that already and you should as well. I have plenty of ponies who call me Princess as it is.”

Ruby reluctantly agreed to her proposal. After that, we switched our collective attention to the pizza. It vanished pretty quickly under the assault of six mouths and soon everypony was just sitting around the table, being content.

The pizza turned out to be even tastier than it smelled, if such a thing was possible. The others were happy too, praising Ruby’s cooking skills. Spike looked a little sour, but he joined in as well. Perhaps he was a bit jealous.

“I was serious about my job offer, Ruby,” Twilight said after a while. “With all the new guards the castle would get, Spike won’t be able to cook for everyone and still be able to help me.”

Spike crossed his arms defiantly, but remained silent. He understood that Twilight was right. Ruby appeared thoughtful by the offer, but I was surprised she was still considering it. Working for royalty was a great opportunity!

I nudged her with my elbow and nodded supportively as she looked at me. That helped Ruby to make a decision at last.

“That would be an honor, Your—” Ruby stopped mid-sentence to correct herself, “Twilight.”

I reached out with my good foreleg to give my friend a hug. I was happy for Ruby that she found a job so easily and I hoped it would make her less likely to start another fight with Rarity. I broke the hug eventually and sighed contentedly.

Despite what the doctor had said, I didn’t plan to spend my time just lying in bed and recovering. I was sure that a few trips outside wouldn’t hurt me, though I would still require some help to move around safely. Ruby wanted to visit the pony who attacked me tomorrow and I decided to go along in case she managed to convince the police to let her in. I needed to see the pony who had tried to kill me and look him in the eyes.
***

The next day started with the magic exercises Starlight had taught me. Though she recommended to start doing them after my recovery, but I didn’t let that small detail stop me. In my eyes, the sooner I learned magic, the less likely I’d get hurt again.

I didn’t even need to get out of bed to start the exercise; I could do it while being covered by a cozy blanket. The exercise consisted of three simple parts. The first part was about strength and required me to lift various objects of increasing mass, the second was dexterity training – I had to move the object in a precise manner. I had some trouble with that: the pillow that I was using for the exercise was flying randomly around the room, despite my efforts to rein it in. It ended with the pillow landing on my face. I couldn’t even get to the third part, where I should levitate as many objects as possible at the same time, since my head started to hurt, which made me decide to end the exercise for today.

It was early in the morning and the sun was just rising over the horizon. Everypony else in the castle was probably still asleep and I didn’t want to bother them just so that they could help me get out of my own bed. It was hard to do while trying not to disturb my injured foreleg, but not impossible. I tossed the pillows, along with the blanket, down onto the floor to soften my landing and rolled off the bed. Then I carefully rose up on my three hooves. Voilà! No problems at all.

The halls of the castle outside of my room were empty; not that I expected anything different, knowing that only six souls lived here at the moment. I remembered the path to the kitchen and I went there, hoping to find something to bite. I was sure Twilight wouldn’t mind – after all, she said that I should feel like home.

Moving through the dark corridor with no help was a chore for me with my recent injury. The only source of light were half-lit crystals along the walls. If there was some way to make them glow brighter, I wasn’t aware of it yet. Fortunately, the castle wasn’t very large and I soon stumbled upon the familiar door leading to the kitchen.

I slid inside, finding it empty. Now, where do these ponies store their food? I looked into the lower shelves, but found only dishes in all shapes and sizes. The high shelves with all the good stuff sadly were out of my reach – I didn’t want to suffer another injury trying to get to them.

“Hi, Sundae,” a voice behind me startled me and I quickly turned back, almost tumbling over, only to see Marcus standing at the door.

Damn, why am I always the one to be startled.

Marcus came closer to me after receiving my greeting nod and reached out to the high shelf, taking a bag of chips. He gave them to me and took another bag for himself. I murmured some thanks and tried to tear it open with my mouth, while holding it down with my healthy foreleg. Marcus watched my display in amusement while crunching one chip after another.

“So, are you getting used to being a pony again?” he asked.

I dove into the bag with my muzzle to buy me some time, while mulling over the question. I definitely felt much better in pony form now than a few days ago, after I had buried my hopes of a serious relationship with Marcus. That was the main reason I used to have problems with my new form and while I still had some issues, the pros greatly outweighed the cons for me.

Take magic, for example. I had always loved imagining myself as a wizard while reading yet another fantasy book, but I had never thought I would have the chance to become one for real. I carefully wrapped the bag of chips in my magical grip and levitated it around my head, ignoring the dull pain in my horn caused by my action.

“I’m managing,” I smiled to Marcus, finally answering his question.
***

Spike had found us having a snack in the kitchen when he got there to make a breakfast. He gently, but firmly, encouraged us to leave, since he preferred to cook alone; so we settled in the big dining room instead. Everypony joined us soon and we waited for the meal together.

Ruby wanted to lend Spike a helping hoof, but Twilight shook her head. She told her that Spike always took it badly if he thought someone was going to replace him, and with Ruby being the new official castle cook, Spike would have a hard time as it was. Ruby dropped back on her chair disappointed, but understanding.

After a delicious meal that almost rivaled Ruby’s pizza yesterday, everypony went about their own business. Twilight said that she was going to spend the whole day working on the Mirror portal with Starlight joining her, after I assured the unicorn that I would be having fun exploring the town with Ruby. I left unsaid our plans to visit the prisoner, obviously.

Marcus wasn’t in the mood to venture outside with us, preferring to stay in the castle instead. Spike had promised to show him all the cool places, so he had something to occupy himself with.

The two of us left the castle together, with Ruby close by my side, in case I happened to fall and hurt myself. I wasn’t about to do it though – I was getting used to my three-legged gait. Some ponies on the street gazed at my injuries with unconcealed curiosity, but they pretended to look the other way when I caught them in the act. It was nothing compared to the stares we were getting when Marcus was around, so I just ignored it.

Pretty soon, I discovered that Ruby didn’t know where to go. We had no clue where the police station was, since both of us were new in town, but my friend was too stubborn to admit it. I pointed it out when we found ourselves back at the same street for the fourth time and Ruby snarled at me in anger. She quickly apologized though, ashamed of her outburst.

“Sorry, Sunny,” she drooped her ears, looking at me with her big blue eyes. “You’re totally right; let’s ask somepony to help us.”

She stopped a random mare who crossed our path with a friendly hoof gesture, but couldn’t bring herself to ask anything. I had to step up and ask the mare myself. She kindly explained us how to get to the police station in detail and we parted our ways, saying our goodbyes.

Ruby trotted in the direction we had been pointed to, ignoring her little hiccup, and I limped after her, watching her in concern. That mare clearly had some issues that had to be resolved sooner rather than later. But now was not the time or the place to handle it, so I let it slide, silently following her.

The police station was finally before us; after half an hour wasted on going in circles, it was frustrating to find out the station was only in a few minutes’ trot from the castle. Ruby glanced back to make sure I was still following her and I noticed a serious expression on her face. She waited for me to catch up and helped me to get up the stairs to the station’s entrance.

The building was the same style as the surrounding houses, but much bigger. A star and a shield were displayed over the door, showing everypony the building’s purpose. There was a long phrase below it, but I couldn’t read it. It was probably some kind of fancy and profound motto, like “serve and protect” or something along those lines.

Two police officers got out of the station and trotted past us, eyes lingering on my foreleg in a cast. I could tell they were the law enforcement only by their capes and belts with various police devices fixed on it. Otherwise, they looked the same as everypony else.

I followed Ruby inside; she walked straight to the counter determinedly, with the stallion behind it silently watching her approach, and took the bull by the horns.

“I need to see that bastard,” she explained her business to the bored stallion. He didn’t look all that impressed.

“Well, you’ve certainly come to the right place, miss,” he deadpanned. “We have a lot of bastards in here.”

Ruby’s annoyed face told me she didn’t appreciate the stallion’s humor. I quickly stepped forward before Ruby could mess things up by an angry outburst and grabbed his attention myself. Ruby mumbled something under her breath but allowed me to take the lead.

“Good morning, officer!” I greeted the police pony cheerfully. “A dark-coated stallion was brought to you yesterday; we hoped to have a little chat with him.”

The officer mulled over my words for a moment while I was holding my breath, but my heart clenched in disappointment when he shook his head in refusal. Ruby exploded before I could object, however.

“But we must speak to him!” she slammed her hooves on the counter’s surface, making it shudder violently.

The officer jumped on his hooves angrily and reached for his baton, but I stopped him from making any hasty actions with a hoof wave. He paused, giving me a chance to handle the situation myself. I gently nuzzled Ruby at her foreleg and she glared at me. Her eyes met mine. The angry scowl on her face changed to an expression of shame and her ears fell flat.

“I’m…really sorry, sir,” she told the officer, looking down. “I promise to behave from now on.”

The officer slowly sat back on his chair and eyed us coldly. I could tell he wasn’t pleased by Ruby’s actions, which considerably dropped my chances of convincing him.

“Why can’t we meet with the pony?” I still inquired politely, trying to smooth his impression on us.

“It’s against our regulations to let civilians see the suspects of ongoing investigations unless you’re his family or a lawyer,” he explained to me, ignoring Ruby nervously shifting from one leg to another.

I tried to think of a way to convince him otherwise, but the only thing I came up with was a good old bribe. That plan had two big drawbacks: first, I didn’t know how corrupt the police was in Equestria and second, I had no money to pull off something like that. I dropped my smile that I had kept on my face until now and sighed.

“Problems, Split?” a dark red unicorn mare asked the counter pony, coming out of the door behind him.

He quickly glanced back at her and then returned his stare back at us.

“No, Detective,” Split assured her. “These two mares just wanted to see the pony that attacked someone at the castle yesterday, but they are leaving now.”

The mare approached us and I noticed a star with a shield as her cutie mark, which went well with her profession. She examined us quickly, paying close attention to my injuries and said:

“My name is detective Sky Seeker. You’re the mare that was attacked yesterday, aren’t you?”

I nodded silently. I sparked her interest and if I played it right, I would finally meet the prisoner. There was a slim chance he had acted on his own, but considering my history, it was close to impossible. Most likely the Doctor was behind the attack, like Ruby had claimed, but I wanted to be completely sure. I only prayed that Ruby stayed silent while I did the talking.

“I just wanted to ask him a few questions, if that’s possible,” I asked the detective, trying not to sound pleading.

“I don’t see why not,” the mare shrugged. “But I’m going to ask you a few questions first. Follow me.”

The officer at the counter looked shocked at her agreement and he even got out of his chair to block her way. She raised an eyebrow at him questioningly.

“Eh, sorry, detective, but…It’s against regulations! We can’t just allow civilians to freely chat with any suspects we have here.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Split,” the detective said dismissively. She pointed her hoof at me and continued: “She’s the victim. In fact, I wanted to look for her myself and it’s a lucky coincidence she arrived first.”

He stepped aside, dropping his ears. The officer had nothing to say now so he returned to the counter in defeat, but not before Ruby teasingly flashed her tongue at him. I didn’t catch his reaction because we had already followed the detective into her office, but I hoped Ruby wouldn’t get into any trouble for what she did. It’s never a good idea to provoke a police officer for no reason.

Before taking us to the suspect, Detective Seeker asked us a lot of questions first, as she had promised. Those were mostly the standard police questions I had expected her to ask, like whether I knew the attacker or what were my thoughts on the reason behind the attack. I answered them as honestly and openly as possible, with Ruby filling in on the Doctor’s possible involvement, since she knew him better than me.

“I honestly don’t know if I believe your story, but I won’t make any assumptions as of yet,” the Detective shared her thoughts after we had finished.

I put a calming hoof on Ruby’s shoulder just in case of another outburst, but she took it more calmly than I had expected. She still nodded to me gratefully, showing her appreciation of my efforts.

“I want to put you in the same room as your attacker and watch his reaction as you repeat all you’ve told me to him,” Seeker continued. She looked me in the eyes seriously and added: “That is, if you’re okay with that.”

“Of course she’s okay with that, Miss Seeker,” Ruby spoke sarcastically. “She came here to meet him in the first place, remember?”

The detective expressed mixed emotions, ranging from annoyance to amusement at Ruby’s words, and chose to stay somewhere in the middle. I cursed Ruby internally – it was becoming painfully obvious that diplomacy wasn’t her strongest suit. Good thing the detective wanted us to meet with the suspect herself; otherwise we would have been kicked out of the station already.

I nuzzled Ruby in her side, while the detective went forward to lead us into an interrogation room. She looked at me in surprise and I did my best to silently give her the sign to stop antagonizing the police. Ruby nodded with what I could only hope was understanding.

The red unicorn stopped at the door with a telling inscription saying Interrogation Room on it.

“You can watch through the glass, but I want only Sundae inside with me,” she said sternly.

Ruby wanted to argue and had already opened her mouth, but noticed my drooped ears and a pleading face I was making at her and stopped. She nodded silently, not trusting herself to speak, and went to the second room, sharply closing the door behind her. I sighed in relief at avoiding another possible conflict.

“Your friend has some issues,” Seeker commented neutrally and I shrugged even though I had shared these thoughts just recently.

The detective opened the door and walked inside first, inviting me to follow her. The small, dimly lit room contained the only pony inside – my assailant. I recognized him at first sight and shuddered internally. That pony had no qualms about trying to kill me, even though I did nothing to him personally. I calmed myself down – he was harmless for me now. His necklace with potions had been taken away as well as everything else. The only garment on him were a pair of tight hoofcuffs, chained to a steel table in front of him. It suited him perfectly.

“So,” the detective began, settling on a bench on the opposite side of the table, “I brought along this mare you’ve tried to kill and she has an interesting story to tell.”

The cuffed pony completely ignored me, continuing to stare at the table in front of him. I studied him for a minute in silence while collecting my thoughts; the detective waited patiently for me to start talking. And then I finally did.

“I know why you attacked me,” I said, pointing a hoof at him in accusation. “You were hired by Nightfall Shade because I know something he wouldn’t want to be revealed.”

That finally got a reaction from the pony who had nearly killed me, as he sharply rose his head to meet my eyes. His stare pierced through me, but I managed to maintain a calm expression on my face; I knew he couldn’t hurt me now no matter how evilly he stared at me. The detective leaned forward in excitement, but the pony remained silent.

“That’s right, I know everything,” I continued, bluffing shamelessly. The fact was that I didn’t have a clue, even after Ruby had told me everything she knew. “I’ve already told Princess Twilight about it.”

“Yep, you’re busted,” the detective played along with me. “You’re going in for a long time either way, so you’d better tell me all about your old masters. It’s going to make your time much easier.”

The stallion watched us both through his narrowed eyes and finally laughed. The fur on my back stood up from such a mirthless laugh. He leaned back in his chair with a cold grin, almost a scowl, that never reached his eyes. The detective lifted her eyebrows in surprise from his strange behavior.

“You’re both bluffing, silly fillies,” he told us with contempt in his voice. “If you really knew everything as you’ve claimed, I wouldn’t be talking here with you.”

Seeker was put off for a second by his apparent disrespect, but she got over it quickly. If she was expecting to get respect from criminals, she chose the wrong profession. The detective furrowed her eyebrows instead and stomped a hoof on the table.

“Don’t get too smug, scumbag!” she told him in a raised voice. “The only reason we’re having this talk is because I felt like giving you a chance to redeem yourself. But my patience is running thin already.”

The criminal in front of her just smirked, not believing a word she said. I wouldn’t either if our roles were reversed, to be honest. I heard a muffled bang from one-way mirror behind me – Ruby was probably going berserk in the observation room. I hoped she wouldn’t be so mad as to rush in here and try to beat the confession out of the assassin...

Luckily, my friend managed to get a hold of herself. We continued our pointless standoff with the criminal uninterrupted for the next ten minutes. Detective Seeker tried to fool him with a few more bluffs, but he was silent all the while, only displaying a mocking smile at her pitiful attempts. His infuriating smile was slowly driving me nuts, so I finally decided it was enough.

Thankfully, the detective was thinking along the same lines. With a final deadly stare at the incomprehensible criminal, she got up and helped me out of my chair. We were leaving the room when the pony behind us said ominously:

“You won’t get away with just a hurt leg the next time.”

I felt my heart stop for a moment as I realized the harsh truth. Even though I knew he wouldn’t be able to hurt me personally, others would come in his stead…the detective let me out first and then turned around to answer.

“I’ll add death threats to your list of crimes,” she said, slamming the door forcefully.

Ruby rushed out of the second room a moment later, trembling with fury. I was frustrated with the pony myself, but I still put a hoof on her back and patted her a few times in my clumsy attempt to calm her down. It worked though – she looked at me and in the next moment I was embraced in a tight hug.

“Don’t worry, Sunny. I won’t let him or his friends ever hurt you again,” she promised me with conviction in her voice.

I relaxed in her hug, letting the tension from meeting my attacker and being threatened by him leave my body. A polite cough from the detective reminded us of her existence and we broke up our long hug, blushing slightly. She looked at both of us for a few moments and then nodded to herself.

“Right. So, bringing you along didn’t go as well as I hoped,” she told me with disappointment. “At least I can rule out a simple robbery for certain now. Thanks for your help, though. I’ll keep you updated on any progress in my investigation.”

“Good,” Ruby said, satisfied. “Have you found out who this stallion is yet?”

Seeker shook her head. She led us to the way out, while sharing everything she knew about him, which was close to nothing.

“He’s going to be sent to Canterlot, since we don’t have a full-time prison in Ponyville. They have a big database on the known criminals there – if he’s in it, they’re going to send this information to me. But I’ve done all I could for now.”

Ruby wasn’t happy about that, but she behaved as she promised. We passed the police officer at the counter, who followed Ruby with an annoyed stare, and got out into the fresh air outside. The detective mare said her goodbyes and I thanked her for her efforts on the investigation, even though Ruby had quite a low opinion about its results so far. I silently agreed with my friend, but it wasn’t a reason to be rude. After all, the detective had truly done all she could in her position.

It was still early in the day and I was feeling energetic despite my injuries, so I felt it was a good time to pay a visit to Rarity. I hoped Ruby wouldn’t freak out when I shared my plans with her. Even though she had apologized to Rarity and there was an official peace established between them, they weren’t close to being friends. I only needed to figure out how far they were from being ones.

“Sorry for being so rotten, Sunny,” Ruby said, drooping her ears in shame. “I just don’t want to lose you again because of that nasty doctor…”

Her words made me feel a little guilty for being annoyed with her. I gave her a friendly hug, assuring her that I wasn’t mad at her and completely understood her emotions.

“So, shall we return to the castle now?” Ruby asked finally. “You’re probably tired.”

“There is actually some place I wanted to visit first,” I said with some hesitation. Ruby looked at me questioningly and I spilled the beans. “It’s Rarity. I would understand if you didn’t want to come with me.”

“Oh,” was all Ruby said. I could see it in her eyes that she wasn’t excited at all about my idea, but she went along with me anyway, promising to be at her best.

We made a quick stop to use a restroom in a small cafe on our way. Thinking of Rarity made us both very self-conscious and we spent ten whole minutes bringing our manes and tails into presentable order. Good thing Ruby had a saddlebag on her with a hairbrush that she generously shared with me. I put it in my mental checklist as a priority to get myself a saddlebag too.

After that, we found Rarity’s boutique. It didn’t take us nearly as long as finding the police station, since we both had been there before with Spike. The closed sign was still on the door, but Rarity had told me to ignore it, so I carefully knocked on it with my leg cast.

The beautiful owner answered fast, looking as great as in the last visit. Rarity let us both in, throwing a quick worried glance Ruby’s way, which thankfully went unnoticed by the mare. She didn’t express her worry in the polite and warm way she greeted both of us though, acting as if the fight between the two of them had never happened.

“I’m terribly sorry for what happened to you, darling,” Rarity told me after the greetings were out of the way. She looked at my injured leg with a compassionate frown. “I hope you’re not in too much pain.”

I assured her that I wasn’t, which was the honest truth. I was lucky Starlight had saved me before the assassin could finish his job or leave me with more serious injuries.

We proceeded deeper into the store, where Rarity showed us a few cozy chairs, along with a coffee table made of glass. She offered us some tea and I agreed, though I already imagined the trouble I would have with trying to drink it with one hoof. Ruby politely refused the beverage. I hoped it was because she genuinely didn’t want tea, not because it was an elaborate way to insult our host.

While Rarity was off preparing the drinks, I asked Ruby about her reasons. She dismissed my concerns out of hoof, claiming that everything was fine, but I decided to remain on guard nonetheless.

Rarity returned, holding two steaming cups in her blue magic aura and settled one on the table in front of me. I nodded my thanks and just stared at it, trying to come up with a way to drink it without spilling the content all over my coat.

“Did you get the letter you were waiting for?” I asked, distracting her from noticing my troubles, but regretted my decision instantly.

That very letter sparked the fight yesterday and here I was, bringing it up right off the bat…Rarity tensed up almost unnoticeably, but she answered in a casual way.

“I’m afraid not, but thanks for asking, dear,” she smiled warmly. “But let’s talk about you instead. I promised to make something for you; have you decided what kind of garment you would like?”

I checked on Ruby, who just sat with a neutral expression doing nothing, before thinking of the answer. To be honest, I hadn’t even considered that before. I guess I just thought Rarity would make something random for me, but if I got to choose…

“Can you make me a saddlebag?” I asked hopefully. It was the perfect decision. It wouldn’t be too big and expensive and it was something I really needed, unlike clothes, which were pretty much useless for me now. I knew better than to mention the last reason to Rarity, though.

She was surprised by my choice at first, but she assured me that even though she didn’t make saddlebags on a regular basis, she would be only too happy to make one for me. It would be both stylish and practical, which suited me just fine.

The dressmaker took some measurements of me, though I couldn’t imagine why she would need them for a saddlebag. But she was the professional here, so I refrained from complaining. She was done quickly anyway.

With that business taken care of, we just chatted about various things. Rarity was pleasant to talk to and I had learned a lot from her about the inhabitants of Ponyville. At some point, she finally noticed that I hadn’t touched my tea, which had gone cold already.

“Sorry,” I said, casting my eyes down. “It’s just…”

“Having trouble with your hooves?” Rarity guessed. “As I understood from Spike’s tale, you used to be just like your friend Marcus and you don’t remember anything about being a pony, is that correct?” she waited for my nod and continued. “As a unicorn, you don’t have to learn to manipulate the objects with your hooves, since we can use magic for that. Have you already tried using it?”

I decided that I was feeling good enough for a demonstration. Silently praying, I carefully gripped the cup in my magic and slowly levitated it to the same level as my mouth. Rather than risking moving it towards my lips, I leaned forward and took a sip. Then I settled the cup back on the table.

“Excellent, darling!” Rarity praised my limited success and I smiled.

“Yeah, good job, Sunny,” Ruby, sitting silently the whole time, finally said something. I nodded to both of them, grateful for the encouragement.

From now on, I decided to include Ruby in the conversation, asking her various questions. She started to open up after a while. As soon as she did that though, our talk turned to more serious matters.

Ruby shared her frustration at the local police for their inability to solve the crime committed against me. Rarity was nodding politely, not taking any sides to avoid a possible argument. I silently praised her for this wise decision.

“You know, I may actually be able to help you with this one,” Rarity said suddenly. “The Canterlot Police chief’s wife is a regular client in my boutique there. I’m sure I can arrange for a more thorough and quicker search of the assassin’s identity. Or even make an inquiry about this doctor fellow himself, if you’re sure he’s the one behind it.”

Though Twilight had already promised to find out more about the Doctor herself, I knew she was busy with the mirror portal and her royal duties, so I gratefully accepted Rarity’s offer after she assured it wouldn’t cause her any trouble.

I noted how Ruby looked much more relaxed in Rarity’s presence. I hoped whatever issue she had with her had dissipated by spending the afternoon together.

We said our goodbyes after I had finished my tea. Rarity told me that my saddlebag would be ready within a week and she would bring it to the castle personally when it was ready. Without any further delay, Ruby and I returned to the castle. I felt tired and wanted to take a nap, while Ruby promised to make something good for dinner by the time I’d wake up. I was looking forward to it.
***

The next week flew by faster than I knew it. I got better at the simplest spells and my head didn’t even hurt anymore when I levitated the objects around the room. Starlight was proud of my success, but we weren’t advancing to more serious magic yet. I should tackle the two main issues before we went there, she said.

The first one was my lack of knowledge of the written language, which stopped me from reading the books Twilight had recommended me on the subject, and the second was that my magic simply wasn’t strong enough yet – I needed more practice and training to be able to cast more demanding spells. If I tried to do such a spell now, I would fall over from exhaustion in the middle of it. I was already working on solving those two problems. Along with magical lessons, Starlight was also teaching me to read and my daily magic exercises made my magic grow stronger.

Ruby was doing well too. She took her new job to heart and was cooking delicious meals for us every day. I hoped she would keep up her good work after the ponies for Twilight’s new guard arrived. They would be staying at the castle, so Ruby would have to feed more hungry mouths than now and that could hurt the quality of her cooking.

Only Marcus hadn’t managed to find anything to do yet. He’d visited our magical lessons with Starlight, but quickly grew bored of them. I guess it wasn’t as exciting for him to look at someone else doing magic, while all he could do is watch. Instead, he spent his time with Spike and a pony named Big Mac when they were free from their own duties. They had a little “guy’s club” as they called it. When they were busy though, Marcus was just walking around town on Twilight’s advice, so that the townsponies could get used to him. He tried to find some kind of job, but with no luck. Marcus was too proud for that, but I planned to ask Twilight to help him in secret.

The princess herself was still researching the mirror without any success. Her study of it was taking up more and more of her time to the point that Spike became worried it would interfere with her other duties. To be honest, Twilight seemed kind of obsessed with it and every conversation with her eventually slipped to the topic of the mirror. Whatever she tried – she couldn’t reactivate it.

“Twilight, this mirror project is driving you crazy,” Starlight brought up the issue with her usual tact at our breakfast together. “You should take some time off to clear your head.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she dismissed her friend’s concerns out of hoof. “I’m on the verge of cracking its secrets, I can feel it.”

“The only thing that’s going to crack is your sanity,” Starlight retorted.

Twilight just snorted and returned to her meal, while Starlight and Spike exchanged worried looks. I wished Marcus had said something to support Starlight, but I knew he was conflicted on the issue. He obviously didn’t want Twilight to hurt herself trying to get him home, but at the same time he desperately wanted to go back himself.

It was hard being the only member of your species in an alien world, where everypony treated you more as an exotic wonder than as a real person. Spike was the only one who could understand how it felt and that was why he had become best friends with Marcus.

After breakfast was done, I carried on with the day as per usual, right until the evening, when Rarity’s arrival broke my daily routine. She brought me the gift she had promised – a beautiful saddlebag. It felt soft on my back and held firmly. It was sky blue, since I had mentioned to Rarity my fondness for that particular color. I trotted around with it loaded with various things to test its usability, though I didn’t risk jumping up and down to test it even further: I could already use my injured foreleg for walking, but it wasn’t fully recovered.

The gift was amazing. I expressed my gratitude by embracing Rarity in a hug, which she was only too happy to receive, even though I got some weird glances from Ruby after that.

“I wanted to embroider your cutie mark on it, but then I remembered you don’t have one yet…” Rarity mentioned after the hug. “Don’t worry, though. I’m going to do it when you get one!”

I glanced back at my empty flank. The lack of a cutie mark bothered me a little. Everypony my age already had one and I was supposed to have one too if it wasn’t for the mirror. Even Starlight, who had experience with removing cutie marks, couldn’t tell if it was possible to recover my old cutie mark or get a new one.

“Oh, I’m sorry for upsetting you,” Rarity gasped, noticing my sullen expression. “Perhaps I should introduce you to my sister Sweetie Belle. If anypony would understand your concerns, it’s her and her friends.”

We spent the rest of the evening together in town, with Ruby coming along with us. Rarity took us to a nice cafe where we got ourselves some hayburgers. Ruby wanted to pay for them herself, since she had some money from working for Twilight now, but Rarity had nothing of it, insisting it was her treat for her new friends. I appreciated her gesture, but I couldn’t say the same for my azure friend.

“I got some news for you both,” she said as we enjoyed our burgers. “The Canterlot Police figured out the identity of your attacker as well as discovering the current location of the Doctor.”

My ears perked up and moved in her direction, waiting for her to continue, and Ruby grew excited as well. She had a small frown on her face though.

“Why didn’t you mention this from the start?” Ruby asked half-accusingly.

Rarity’s ears drooped slightly as she tried to justify herself in front of Ruby.

“I just didn’t want to ruin this beautiful evening with such a dark topic…” she said with a sigh. “But seeing as it’s coming to an end, I felt like this is an appropriate time to share the news with you, don’t you agree?”

Fortunately, Ruby agreed. Or maybe she was just in a hurry to find out the news and didn’t want to delay it with arguing.

“Doctor Nightfall Shade is currently on a business trip in Manehattan. He’s running some kind of trading company now. As of our attacker, he is…” Rarity stopped mid-sentence, having a sudden craving for a glass of water, which she gulped down painfully slowly. I could swear she was enjoying every moment of our suspense. “Sorry. Your attacker’s real name is Stealth Blade and he is also from Manehattan, a wanted criminal for a whole list of crimes there, no less. What a striking coincidence, I know.”

Ruby hit the table with her hoof, almost breaking it. The eyes of the other customers shot in our direction and I smiled sheepishly at them, hoping they would return to minding their own business. Ruby ignored all of this though, staring at me with a weird grin on her face.

“I knew the Doctor was involved and now we have proof!” she exclaimed. “The authorities must do something about it immediately!”

Rarity waited until the commotion caused by Ruby’s behavior calmed down before gently bursting her bubble.

“As much as I share your excitement, darling, I just don’t see how it would be enough to convince the authorities to act. Two ponies being in the same city at the same time won’t prove anything,” Rarity explained to my friend, who fell back onto her chair in disappointment.

“Yeah…I guess you’re right,” Ruby agreed to my surprise and relief.

“And I could help you with that one too,” Rarity said with a mysterious smile. “You see, I still haven’t got the letter I was waiting for, so I plan to make a trip to Manehattan personally to see what’s wrong.”

“How would that help us in any way?” my friend asked, though I had already guessed what Rarity was implying.

“Why, you two are welcome to come with me, of course,” she said. “Once I finish my business, we can find this Doctor and find out what he’s up to firsthoof.”

It was nice of her to offer to help us, but I wasn’t sure it was such a good idea, even though Ruby looked ecstatic after hearing it. The Doctor had already proved to be dangerous and had connections with criminals. It would be wiser to let the police deal with him.

Then again, he got away after making me disappear six years ago with only a small number of ponies, like Ruby, suspecting the truth. He had a spotless reputation and was a well-respected scientist, so it was doubtful the attempt on my life would somehow be connected to him.

“I need to talk with Twilight first,” I finally shared my thoughts with friends. “Maybe she can influence the police to check on the Doctor in the light of our findings.”

“Good idea,” nodded Rarity with approval. “Twilight definitely should know about this. I’m leaving for Manehattan in three days, but I need to buy the tickets in advance, so tell me your decision as soon as possible.”

After the big news was out of the way, the rest of the evening passed with us having fun. I proudly demonstrated my improved levitation skills to Rarity by lifting all of our plates into the air and rotating them around the table. My success was short-lived and I had to apologize in embarrassment when the waiter asked me to stop. Rarity and Ruby both giggled at the finale of my performance.

We left the cafe late when it was about to close for the day. Ruby and I walked Rarity to her boutique through the dusky streets of Ponyville. I thanked Rarity for the great evening and her amazing gift – the saddlebag on my back – and we said our goodbyes to each other.

The first thing I did when we returned to the castle was to find Twilight. It wasn’t hard to do – she spent most of the time in her research lab doing Celestia knows what with the magical mirror. She was there now.

Twilight listened absent-mindedly while reading a book as I was telling her about the Doctor’s possible connection to the assassin, but she turned her full attention to me when I got to the part about us going to Manehattan to investigate him personally.

Her thoughts on the matter were exactly as my own – it was a bad idea.

“If he really is behind the attack, you going to Manehattan would be a golden opportunity for him to strike again,” Twilight told me in a serious voice. “Starlight won’t be there to save you again and as much as I love Rarity, she won’t be able to protect you against another assassin.”

“Starlight can go with us,” Ruby brushed her concerns away. “Unless you can get the police to investigate the Doctor, we must do it ourselves.”

“Well, I can ask them nicely, but I don’t have any official power over them, sorry,” Twilight said, drooping her ears. “Even I am having a hard time believing it’s really him…I’ve read a paper he wrote about Starswirl the Bearded…”

“But I’m not dismissing the possibility out of hoof,” she assured Ruby, seeing her frowny expression after her words.

“If even you have doubts, then I really see no other way than to find more proof ourselves,” I said reluctantly. “If he still holds a grudge after six years for some reason, then he won’t stop after one failed attempt. I have to risk the trip to Manehattan.” I sighed. “If only I could remember the reason why he hates me so much…”

“I thought about it, actually,” Twilight said, “But I couldn’t find any memory spells in my books, which is no surprise. This kind of magic is forbidden and for a good reason. You see, in the 6th century of Celestia’s Rule, there was—”

“Not important now,” Ruby interrupted her. “Obviously, somepony still knows those spells if they used them on Sundae. There must be something we can do.”

“Y-yes, I agree,” Twilight frowned, not happy with the interruption, but deciding not to make an issue out of it. “The only ponies I know who could help is either Celestia herself or Zecora. I’m going to send Celestia a letter right now and if she can’t help, we can visit Zecora tomorrow.”

I’d heard about Zecora before. She lived in the Everfree Forest everypony was so terrified of and knew a great deal about potions. After all I’d heard about the forest, I had no desire to venture in it, so I put my hopes on Celestia’s help.

We had to move our plans for tomorrow when Twilight had realized how late it was. Spike was already sleeping in his bedroom, with Celestia probably doing the same in Canterlot, and going to Zecora now was obviously out of the question.

I couldn’t suppress a big yawn myself thinking about the other sleeping ponies, so I called it a day and went to bed, wishing goodnight to my friends. I was nervous about tomorrow – what if I got my memories back? Would it change my impression on Equestria and myself? I still fell asleep quickly despite all my worries.

Part III - Chapter 11: Sundae Investigates

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Chapter 11 – Sundae Investigates

I reflected on my trip to Zecora the previous day trying hard not to fall asleep in the train compartment. She looked similar in shape to a pony, but slightly bigger and with a coat covered in black and white stripes. She spoke weirdly too, forming her sentences in rhymes which sometimes were hard to understand. Anyway, I explained my situation to her and she came up with a potion she claimed would help my memories to emerge. The problem was that it required a number of rare ingredients. Ingredients that would likely be found in Manehattan, the center of commerce in Equestria.

That’s why I and three of my friends woke up early in the morning and were now on our way to the city. Of course, it wasn’t the only reason for our ride – the investigation was still our prime objective. Even Twilight reluctantly agreed with its necessity after Detective Seeker had admitted her inability to make an official move against the Doctor. It wasn’t even the lack of real evidence against him – since my attacker was a known criminal in Manehattan, the local police took the case under their own control, leaving our detective with no say in the matter.

Starlight, who had agreed to go along, had a letter from Twilight to the police chief in Manehattan, where she, as a Princess of Equestria, officially asked them to take a closer look at the Doctor’s activities. She was nervous when she wrote the letter, saying it was the first time she used her authority for something like this and wondered if this was the right thing to do, but Starlight assured her that it was for a good reason.

“We’re about to cross Silver Hoof Bridge!” Rarity shook me by the shoulder in her excitement, bringing me back from my half-sleeping trance.

Everypony leaned to the window, enjoying the sight before our eyes. We had a great view of the city from the bridge we were crossing and I didn’t know if I should be more amazed at the urban skyscrapers or the big pony statue, both of which had a striking similarity to its American counterpart. Being used to Canterlot and Ponyville’s medieval appearance, I wasn’t expecting to see a city like that. Too bad Marcus had decided to stay back in Ponyville in case Twilight made a breakthrough – he was the only one who would understand my surprise.

“Does it spark any memories, Sunny?” Ruby asked me all of a sudden.

“What do you mean?” I returned the question in confusion.

Starlight cleared her throat loudly and Ruby’s face changed to an expression of horror.

“Nothing!” she assured me quickly, but seeing that I wasn’t buying it, added: “I mean, we visited here back then, when you still had your memories…That’s what I meant, I swear.”

Though the sight was amazing, nothing seemed familiar to me, so I shook my head. Ruby’s behavior was weird, but I wrote it off as her desire to spare my feelings. Maybe she thought I would get all upset because I still didn’t have my memories back, but if so – she was wrong. I had gotten over that stage years ago and though the recent events made recent events had made the issue come up again, I had my emotions under control on this one.

The rest of the ride was pretty short. Manehattan Station was the train’s last stop, so the platform was crowded with ponies leaving it all at once. We weren’t in any hurry, so we waited until the crowd thinned out and only then left the train. I put on my fabulous saddlebag and trotted behind Starlight, who levitated both her and Rarity’s big cases.

A lot of noise met us outside the station. Ponies went about their business, even more so than in Canterlot, creating a maddening clopping sound. Most of the street was reserved for pony-pulled carriages which played the role same as the cars in the human world. I snorted at the silliness of it – horses were pulling other horses in carriages.

It turned out to be pretty useful though. Rarity found us a taxi carriage with a big stallion pulling it and he took us to our destination much faster than we would have walked on hoof. She paid up, adding a generous tip for such a fast ride and we got inside the hotel where we planned to stay for the duration of our trip.

We waited while Rarity went to the counter to book the rooms for us. She returned a while later with a slightly sullen expression, explaining to us that she had managed to get us only one room with two double beds – it was the only one available, with all the others being taken already. We assured her that everything was fine, so we proceeded up the stairs to check in and leave our bags there.

The room we got wasn’t very fancy, but it was big and in good condition, which was only to be expected from a hotel like that. The two beds we got were also large and two ponies would easily sleep in them without disturbing each other, which was exactly what we planned to do when the time came. We still But we still had a whole day ahead.

“I’m going to the Town Hall first thing,” Rarity announced to us. “You can enjoy the city while I’m gone and maybe even find a shop to buy the ingredients for Zecora. But I’m begging you, please, don’t start any actual investigation without me!”

“Don’t worry, we won’t,” Starlight assured her.

Ruby was itching to start doing something already, but she had to accept our decision. Finding the ingredients was just as important for me as investigating the Doctor and she knew it.

We got downstairs together and separated only outside. Rarity went to find another taxi to take her to the Town Hall, while I and the others went looking for an alchemy store. Starlight took the lead, asking passers-by if they knew one nearby, but nopony had a clue. She even bought a map of the city in a tourist shop, but all in vain.

We got lucky once we found a nice friendly stallion, which was a rarity in Manehattan from what I had gathered, who explained the right location to us. We were able to follow his directions and soon were standing in front of a store called Shade’s Alchemist Dream. It was situated in one of the smaller houses, squeezed in between two skyscrapers.

The store was open, so we got inside without delay. The whole place was filled with both dry and live plants of various kinds, with rarer ingredients laid on display behind a glass showcase. I took a list out of my saddlebag with a list of the stuff we needed. I didn’t even try to read all the names on it, instead I just gave it to the young earth pony stallion, who had come out to greet us. I rightfully figured it was an employee. He gave a close look at my list and a big smile grew on his face.

“You’re in luck, girls,” he said. “We have all the stuff you need!”

The stallion took some time to collect everything we needed from all over the store and after he was done, he charged a sum charged a large sum of money, which made Ruby’s eyes go wide.

“What?!” she screamed in shock after the stallion announced a 4000 bits bill, but Starlight took the news in stride. She had probably been expecting a price like that, which even I knew was pretty expensive. She reached out in her own saddlebag and took a large fat pouch and gave it to the salespony in exchange for our much needed ingredients.

Did Twilight give her the money? I was both grateful and ashamed, thinking about how much Twilight was doing to help me. A terrible thought suddenly struck me — what if Twilight wanted me to pay her back? I had no idea where I would get that much money; I didn’t even have a job! I felt myself hyperventilating just thinking about it. I shoved such ridiculous thoughts aside.

While I was driving myself crazy, the salespony was packing our purchases in a small bag with a black crown symbol on it. Ruby stared at the symbol like she had seen a ghost. Starlight noticed it too, but we waited until we were outside to question Ruby. The mare didn’t wait until we asked her, instead she spilled the beans as soon as the door closed behind us.

“It’s his cutie mark!” she exclaimed, pointing a hoof at the crown symbol.

There was only one pony in my mind she could possibly be referring to – Doctor Shade. Starlight levitated the bag up to her eyes and examined it closely.

“Makes sense,” she said simply. “We knew he had some kind of business here and this store could be it.”

We trotted down the street to find some kind of cafe to discuss our discovery, instead of doing it literally on our enemy’s doorstep. Manehattan was a big city and we passed a lot of ponies along the way. I was getting more and more nervous by the minute – big cities weren’t my thing exactly because of the big crowds they contained.

Ruby leaned closer to me, noticing my discomfort and I felt better, knowing she was there to support me. I looked around more calmly, finally seeing the difference between the ponies of Ponyville and Manehattan, not counting the numbers obviously.

Most of the ponies I saw around here wore some kind of clothing, while back in Ponyville most of them were naked. For the first time in a while I felt self-conscious for being without clothes. My nervousness had returned with new strength and I tucked my tail between my legs involuntarily, looking down in shame.

I relaxed a little only when we got inside a cafe. It was almost empty and looked peaceful, so I could finally sigh in relief. We took a table in the corner, far from the windows on my insistence. Starlight ordered a milkshake for each of us and we sipped it while I tried to pull myself together.

“What’s wrong, Sunny?” Ruby asked me, lowering her ears in concern.

I didn’t answer at once, but after some encouragement from Starlight, I shared the reason for my nervousness with them. Ruby pulled me into a hug immediately – it was her answer to every problem it seemed. Not that I minded, of course. Starlight, in turn, gave me some more practical advice.

“I’m sure Rarity has packed some clothes in that big case of hers,” she said. “You can ask her to lend you some of them if that’s the problem.”

I nodded gratefully for her advice, though I wasn’t sure I’d follow it. I wanted to solve my issues once and for all, not indulge them. After a few minutes, I had recovered enough to bring up the issue we were planning to discuss in the first place.

“So, the alchemy store belongs to the Doctor, huh?” I began.

“I bet this store is just a front for his real business,” Ruby said, slashing her hoof decisively.

“And that business is…?” Starlight asked. Ruby opened her mouth to answer, but couldn’t find anything to say.

I was at a loss as well. But that was the purpose of coming here in the first place – to find more information about Doctor Shade. Now that we knew his official business, it was time to learn if there was a shady side to it, no pun intended. I voiced my thoughts to the others.

“Twilight said we should go to the police first; maybe they know something,” said Starlight.

Ruby snorted with contempt at her words. Her stance on the police was pretty clear to us, but we ignored it. I had no desire to be involved in all of this personally, I just did what I had to. So if Twilight’s letter persuaded them to help us or even take care of the Doctor themselves, I wouldn’t mind it one bit.

“Rarity would be furious if she found out we went ahead without her,” I said with a sigh.

“We didn’t know the store belonged to the Doctor, did we?” Starlight dismissed my concerns lightheartedly. “She’ll understand.”

“But we’re not in a hurry,” I retorted. “We can wait for her in the hotel and then go to the police together.”

Starlight agreed with me, while Ruby was raring to go and do something immediately. She even offered to stalk the store while we waited for Rarity in case something suspicious happened, but we talked her out of it, reasoning that nothing would happen in the middle of the day.

We spent some more time in the cafe just having lunch and talking about stuff. We didn’t expect Rarity to return any time soon and it was a nice sunny day outside, so we had the opportunity to actually enjoy it without talking about all this trouble. I decided to ask my friends about Manehattan.

I was interested to know more about the city, despite my dislike of its crowds, but Starlight knew surprisingly little. It was her first visit to Manehattan and she didn’t care much about its history. I was sure if Twilight was with us in her stead, she’d practically showered us with a bunch of various facts about Manehattan, both interesting and incredibly boring.

Ruby mentioned that she’d been here before, so I asked her about her previous trips, but she was strangely evasive about them. Instead she started telling us about how big the city was, like I hadn’t noticed that myself.

“Does this city have a large park in the middle?” I asked to confirm a guess.

“It does!” Ruby smiled and her ears perked up. “Do you remember something?”

“No,” I answered, making Ruby’s hopeful smile disappear. “There is just a city on Earth that looks very similar to this one. It also has a large park.”

“Twilight would be interested to hear that,” noted Starlight. “A lot of similarities exist between our world and the human one.”

I nodded thoughtfully. I wanted to know what Twilight would say about that when I shared my observations with her. She would likely have some neat theory explaining it all…

We returned to the hotel soon after that, which wasn’t far away from the cafe. I felt better going through the crowd with both Starlight’s and Ruby’s support, but I was still happy to finally get off the street. We nodded to the pony behind the counter and went upstairs to our room.

Rarity hadn’t returned yet, but we hadn’t expected her to. The Town Hall she went to was pretty far, not to mention how long it would take for her to sort out her problems there, so we had at least a few more hours of free time. If only they had the Internet here, so it wouldn’t be so boring…

It was an opportunity for our daily magic lesson with Starlight though, so we began to practice with Ruby as my personal cheerleader. I found myself more confident with her by my side – she was happy at my success and cheered me up if something wasn’t going my way.

On my insistence, Starlight had agreed to teach me a few defense spells. Those kinds of spells were more advanced than some simple levitation, which came to me intuitively. It took me a lot of tries to finally produce a weak, flickering shield around me. I was sweating and shaking from the effort, but I managed to force a proud smile on my face.

My success was short-lived however, as my shield was disintegrated with a loud pop after Ruby touched it with the tip of her hoof.

“Sorry,” she smiled sheepishly.

I sighed in disappointment, but Starlight lifted my mood with her next words.

“It was great! Most unicorns can’t do a spell like that, but I knew you were capable of it. It’s the first spell you did back in the human world.”

I realized that she was right. I thought that spell felt familiar somehow and now I remembered why — I cast it reflexively when a dog attacked me and that probably saved my life. I had forgotten about it, even though it had happened just a few weeks ago, but with all the changes that had happened in my life it felt like forever.

With renewed vigor, I tried to cast it again. This time I did it much more quickly and it looked stronger and steadier. Even though once again it was destroyed by Ruby’s hoof, it took considerably more effort on her part. After a few more attempts Starlight told me it was time to stop – she was worried I would overextend myself. I felt tired myself, so I didn’t argue.

I was all sweaty after today’s exhausting training session, so I decided to check out the facilities. My jaw fell to the floor after I entered the bathroom. While Twilight’s castle had a simple bucket of water which I used to wash myself with, here they had a whole bath with a shower! Damn you, Twilight, why didn’t you tell me you had showers in your world?

I closed the door behind me and happily jumped into the tub, turning the water on with my magic. I stood in bliss, feeling the stream of warm water wash over my coat. It felt much nicer than simply showering myself with a bucket as I used to. I knew I had to share my discovery with Marcus as soon as I returned – he would be grateful.

Leaning on the wall, I stood upright on my hindlegs to allow the water to freely flow on my head and back. I rubbed my mane with a hoof, but clearly it wasn’t enough. I looked around in search of the shampoo and quickly found it on a shelf nearby. My first instinct was to reach out with a hoof, but then I remembered I had magic now.

With a chuckle, I levitated the bottle towards me when suddenly somepony cleared their throat behind me. I gasped, dropping the bottle, and turned to face the intruder, which turned out to be Ruby herself. I suddenly realized that I had forgotten to lock the door, but it was too late now.

Ruby picked up the bottle in her mouth and gave it to me like she wasn’t at all ashamed to intrude on a private moment like this. I suddenly realized that those ponies probably saw things a little differently, considering they went around naked all the time. Being in the shower wasn’t as private to them as it was to humans. With that in mind, I tried not to sound too annoyed.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I growled. Oops, looks like I failed I had failed.

Ruby drooped her ears and looked at me with a hurt expression.

“I just thought I might help you…You don’t remember anything about being a pony after all, so I thought I’d…Explain things…”

She stopped her mumbling and looked at me with her big, adorable eyes. I sighed and felt my annoyance at her vanishing.

“Fine, you can help me wash my mane,” I allowed finally. “I don’t know how you do that with those hooves anyway…”

Ruby took out a big brush out of her saddlebag and jumped into a bathtub with me, which made it feel crowded – the tube was obviously meant for one pony. Ruby didn’t care about that in the slightest though, so I just sat down on my haunches and relaxed, letting her handle my mane since she wanted to so much.

“Oh, Sunny, your mane is so dirty,” she said after a few minutes of brushing.

“What?” I asked in surprise. I washed my mane every day in Twilight’s castle. Though I may have dismissed the usage of a brush… In my defense, I had no idea how to use it with hooves and I wasn’t yet confident enough in my magic for such a delicate task. I didn’t want to pull too hard and tear off a lock.

“Don’t worry, your friend Ruby will fix it up for you,” she assured me, continuing her work.

It took longer than I had expected, but she was finally done. But it wasn’t the end. She gasped as she saw the state of my tail and I rolled my eyes, knowing what would come next. I couldn’t say I hated it though. It felt nice to just relax and let somepony else do all the hard work.

“I know you didn’t have a tail when you were a human, but you have one now and it desperately needs some TLC,” Ruby gently chastised me as I burned from shame. It’s true, while I took some care of my mane, it had completely slipped my mind that I had a tail as well now when it came to washing.

“Sorry, Ruby,” I said, drooping my ears.

“It’s your tail you need to ask for forgiveness, silly,” she said, pulling on it slightly for emphasis.

I performed a small act by taking my tail and petting it, pretending to beg it to forgive me. Ruby giggled at my improvisational display and I felt slightly silly for doing it.

After that, the only thing left to do was to clean my coat. Just standing under a stream of water apparently wasn’t good enough for Ruby – she insisted I had to use the shampoo and brush it along with my mane and tail to be considered really clean. I followed her example and used my mouth to grip the hairbrush instead of trying and failing to use hooves. Working together like that we were done pretty soon.

I jumped out of the tub and dried myself out with a big fluffy towel. Ruby didn’t waste her time on such nonsense however and just shook herself like a dog, spraying water all over the place. My ear flicked in annoyance by itself and I hoped Ruby didn’t notice that. I didn’t want to upset her just after she had helped me so much. We left the bathroom side by side.

Starlight was lying on a bed in the main room and had been reading some book while we were busy in the shower. What got my attention was that it had a cover picture unlike typical books about magic that Twilight was so fond of. I trotted up to have a closer look.

I couldn’t read the name yet with my limited knowledge of Ponish, but the picture displaying a mare in a hat facing a weird monster was telling me it was some kind of adventure book. The mare had a light brown color and wore a green shirt, making her look like an explorer. The jungle setting behind her supported my guess.

“Ah, Daring Do books,” Ruby said, coming close to me. “I love them. The leading character reminds me of an old friend so much… She has disappeared too.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” Starlight closed the book and put it to the side. “Are you talking about Rose? The pegasus who went through the mirror before Sundae?”

“Yep,” Ruby nodded melancholically. “She was pretty upset about losing her cutie mark. I lost all contact with her after we returned from the expedition.”

“You think the Doctor got to her?” I asked.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he did…” Ruby sighed, drooping her ears.

I felt like it was my turn to give her a comforting hug and I did. She quickly recovered her good mood after that and started a lively discussion with Starlight about the story’s characters.

I listened to the discussion silently from the side and even though I had no clue about the fictional events they were mentioning, I grew interested. The story sounded rich and exciting, which once again made me regret my lack of knowledge of the written language. My days would be much more fun if I had a good book to read in the evenings. I missed reading so much…

Rarity found us in the middle of a heated argument about one of the side characters. I didn’t know when I joined in it joined in on it, but it was so engaging I hadn’t even seen Rarity return until she jumped onto the bed with us.

“Oh my…Living in the castle with Twilight is clearly rubbing off on you,” she smiled at our startled faces.

“Rarity! You’re back!” I stated the obvious, failing to mention that I had enjoyed reading even before meeting Twilight.

“Well, of course I am, darling,” Rarity rolled her eyes. “I love what you’ve done with your mane by the way. It looks gorgeous.”

“All it took was a bottle of shampoo and some actual effort,” Ruby mumbled under her muzzle.

“Thank you,” I answered to Rarity, ignoring Ruby’s little remark. “How was your visit to the Town Hall?”

“It was great!” she said with a wide grin. “Turns out I’ve got the permission to open a shop and they had sent me a letter weeks ago, but it must have been lost in the mail. I’m going to have a serious talk with Derpy when I get back…”

“It doesn’t have to be her fault,” Starlight warned. “Letters get lost all the time and Derpy usually delivers on time, even if not always in the most gracious way.”

“I guess you’re right,” Rarity agreed after a quick consideration. “They gave me another one in the Hall anyway, that’s what really important.”

She proudly showed us the permission written on a fancy piece of paper with a big green stamp on it. We all patted her on her back to show our approval.

“I also took the liberty to inquire about the Doctor and his company,” she revealed after we were done congratulating. “I’ve learned it’s called—”

“Shade’s Alchemist Dream!” we finished for her and she blinked in confusion.

“How do you know?” Rarity asked and pouted slightly. “You’ve been investigating without me, haven’t you?”

Starlight explained our findings to her and showed a bag with the Doctor’s cutie mark on it. Rarity calmed down when she learned we weren’t trying to act behind her back and it was just luck that we stumbled upon his store. She also shared her own knowledge about his business, which gave us a clearer picture.

Turns out, the store we found was just one from a whole franchise all over Equestria. There were a few more like it even in Manehattan itself. Ruby was convinced it was just a front for his no doubt more sinister operations, but we had no idea what that could be. To be honest, we had nothing on him except for a bunch of coincidences and Ruby’s suspicions. Hopefully, Twilight’s letter would be enough to convince the police to help us.

We set out on our way without wasting any more time. It was getting close to the evening and we hoped to get to the Police Station before it closed for visitors. Once again, Rarity had quickly found quickly found us a taxi carriage which brought us to our destination in no time. Thankfully, the place was still open when we arrived.

Rarity went forward as the most diplomatic one of the group and talked the police into letting us meet the chief, despite how busy she was. Mentioning a letter from the Princess certainly played its role, but we still were grateful Rarity was here with us to do the talking.

Despite promising to meet with us soon, we had to wait in the corridor almost half an hour, but at least that gave us time to plan the strategy for the upcoming meeting. Everypony, including Ruby, had agreed that she should keep quiet at all times. Rarity and I would handle all the talking.

Finally, the door opened and a secretary let four of us inside. Rarity and I went first with Ruby and Starlight following right behind. I glanced at Rarity and noticed a slight frown on her face after she observed the interior. I had to agree with her reaction — the room was filled with obviously expensive items which looked simply garish when put together. Everything was in a black and gold color and while it would have been nice within limits, here they were clearly exceeded.

A gray earth pony mare in police uniform sat behind a massive table. I guessed she was the one in charge of Manehattan’s law enforcement. She watched us with a cold expression as we slowly approached the table. There was only one chair in front of it and the mare didn’t offer any of us a seat, so we remained standing.

“I was told you have a letter from the Princess?” asked the chief, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

“We do,” Rarity said with a polite smile, not letting such an unwelcome attitude affect her friendly tone. “But let me introduce ourselves first. I am Rarity and those are my friends Starlight, Sundae and Ruby.”

“Chief Ironcuff,” the mare answered curtly. “Will you give me the letter or not?”

“Well…yes, of course. Here you go,” Rarity said, letting her smile drop for a moment. She nodded to Starlight, who levitated an envelope in the chief’s reach.

Ironcuff tore it up immediately, pulling out a letter. She read it for a minute, frowning more and more, and then suddenly crumpled it and threw it into a garbage can. We watched her shocking actions with open mouths. I didn’t know Equestria’s customs as much as I’d like, but even I understood that her behavior was outrageous.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Starlight was the first to recover from the shock.

“I don’t have time to waste on such nonsense,” the chief growled through her teeth. “I thought you had a letter from the actual princess, not some common upstart.”

Rarity and Ruby both gasped from hearing Twilight being referred in such a way, while Starlight lit up her horn menacingly. I could tell the meeting wasn’t going the way we had hoped.

“I dare you to try anything,” the chief said, staring Starlight directly in the eyes.

She quickly realized that it was a bad idea to use magic on the chief of police in her own office, so she extinguished it, but she still had an angry scowl on her face. I felt it was my turn to step up before it could escalate even more.

“Excuse me, Miss Ironcuff,” I opened my mouth and the chief’s cold stare snapped to me. I gulped nervously, but continued. “We will be leaving now.”

“That’s right. Get out of my office, now,” the chief pointed at the door expressively. “I have a city to protect.”

Right before we left though, Ruby turned around to face the chief and said:

“I surprised you still have a city with such a nasty attitude.”

She slammed the door, but I caught a glimpse of the mare’s reddening face. We hurried to leave the building before somepony tried to stop us. After that disaster of a meeting, it seems like we had to deal with the Doctor on our own.

***

It was already evening when we reached the hotel. We didn’t go inside immediately though. Instead, we found a cafe close to our hotel both to get some snacks and think through our new plan of action, since Twilight’s had failed.

“What an unpleasant horse,” Rarity repeated for the 5th time. The policemare had clearly gotten to her.

“Yeah, already heard that one,” Ruby said and shook her mane in disgust. “Not that I disagree, of course. She’s a complete tool.”

“Insulting her won’t get us anywhere,” I said, trying to get our talk to a more constructive path. “We must find out what the Doctor is up to ourselves.”

“Let’s break into his store!” Ruby offered, her eyes shining in excitement for her idea. “I bet we’d find something… crime-y.”

“He has five stores just in Manehattan, darling,” smirked Rarity. “I sincerely doubt he keeps anything suspicious there.”

I hummed thoughtfully, chewing a surprisingly tasty flower sandwich. We desperately needed some information about his operations and that seemed like a good start. I sighed, thinking about how easy we would get it with the police cooperating, but that bridge was burned for us. The whole situation had taught me that despite Equestria seeming like a paradise at first glance, it had the same problems as countries on Earth — corrupted police being the main example.

“A big store franchise like that should have their own warehouse somewhere. If our Doctor Shade is having some shady operations, we’d likely find some evidence of it there,” Starlight shared her thoughts.

“I agree,” I nodded. “But we should check the store first anyway. There must be some documents which would tell us the location of the warehouse.”

We hammered out a few remaining details before deciding the plan was good enough and set our sight on the closest store where we had bought the ingredients earlier. It wasn’t far from the cafe we were in and the time of evening was just perfect for our endeavor, so we began the execution of it immediately.

The store was still open when we got to it though, so we had to spend some time just wandering nearby, waiting for it to close. Finally, the salespony I remembered from earlier left the store, closing the door behind him as well as lowering all the shutters on the windows.

We approached the building as soon as he had disappeared from view. Starlight stopped before the door and closed her eyes to concentrate; her horn glowing.

“There are some magical wards here, but they won’t be a problem,” she said after a few moments. “Wait here.”

Having said that, she teleported inside the store. I glanced around nervously, but nopony was paying any attention to our actions — the streets were almost empty by this time. Then I heard a click and the door opened for us. We trotted in before somepony realized that a crime was happening before their eyes.

“Told you it’s a useful spell,” Starlight commented for me.

Rarity and Starlight lit up their horns with an illumination spell once we got inside. I, not wishing to appear inferior to them, tried to follow their example. It was a simple spell I’d learned right after levitation, but I hadn’t practiced it yet. Despite that, I still managed to produce a weak shimmering out of my horn, which was slowly becoming steadier. Starlight nodded in approval and I smiled briefly at my accomplishment.

We skipped the customer’s area and went straight for the employees-only room. The door was locked, but there were no magical wards, so Starlight dealt with it swiftly. There was a small shelf with documents on it and a safe where all the money was probably kept. We weren’t here to rob so we didn’t touch the safe, focusing on the documents instead.

“We’re looking for a warehouse address, but keep your eyes open for anything,” Starlight reminded us.

Keeping that in mind, I grabbed the top folder and scanned through it. I wasn’t in luck; it was just an accountant book where every sale was written down. I found our own purchase in the middle of the last page by the number of bits we’d paid. There was the final sum of money in the bottom and I whistled quietly — it was a pretty profitable business by the looks of it.

In the end, it was Rarity who found the information we needed. She copied the address to her own notebook and we put the documents back together as if no one had touched them. I gave the store one last look before we left it and sighed. There was so much expensive stuff…I wished to take something for myself as a compensation for what the Doctor had done to me, but I fought that desire back. I was above such things, I told myself. Starlight closed the door before I could change my mind and restored the wards she had to take down for us to enter. The store looked the same as before our little break-in.

I had no moral qualms for breaking in — we did what we had to since the Police was less than helpful; everypony understood the necessity of it. We still agreed to keep it between us though; not everypony would see things our way.

“Let’s go to the warehouse now,” said Ruby enthusiastically as we trotted away from the store.

“I think I should go alone,” Starlight retorted. “There would likely be some kind of security guard. The more of us go there, the more likely we’d get noticed.”

“There is no way I’m sitting this one out!” Ruby declared in outrage.

“Honestly, I don’t think we would find anything interesting there at all, dear,” Rarity calmed her down. “What we really need is to find the Doctor himself and follow him around for a while. Following the suspect is what they usually do in detective stories.”

They argued for a while and in the end we all decided to go to the warehouse. Ruby made it clear she would be going anyway and I wanted to keep close to Starlight in case the Doctor somehow learned about me being in Manehattan and sent somepony to finish the job. As much as I liked Rarity, I didn’t think she would be able to stop the assassin.

The warehouse location was far from us, but we had to reach it on hoof because we couldn’t find a carriage that late. It took us an hour of fast trotting to get there and by the time we did, it was already night. Not a lot of ponies could be seen outside, which suited me just fine. The streets were brightly illuminated and I got a good look at the city around on our way there — it reminded me of the suburbs of London, but with fewer people walking about and much cleaner.

The warehouse itself was a large building, surrounded by a fence. The only gate inside was guarded by a pair of ponies.

“It looks pretty big for the kind of business the Doctor is conducting,” noted Rarity, looking at it from afar. “Looking at his store, I didn’t get the impression the supplies they sell would take up that much space.”

“Suspicious,” agreed Ruby with a predatory grin. “I knew we would find something here.”

“Hold your horses, dear. We don’t know if the whole warehouse belongs to him; it could be rented by a whole lot of different companies.”

“Could be,” Ruby deflated slightly, “But I just feel like we’ll find something there!”

We stopped behind the corner to hide from the guards and discuss our approach. Starlight once again offered to teleport herself in and handle everything alone, but we dismissed her idea. It felt wrong for us to let her risk getting caught while we just chilled out here. Besides, the more eyes, the better. Even I, while feeling reluctant at first, now felt excited to go.

***

I slowly walked along the fence, trying to step without making a sound. My friends were doing the same thing in front of me. Our plan was simple — Starlight would levitate us all onto the roof of the building and from there we’d find the way down. So now we were getting in position, coming to the spot where the building was closer to the fence.

There was a risk of meeting another guard who we had seen patrolling the area, so we wanted to do everything fast. It would definitely ring some bells in his head if he looked up at the wrong time and saw four ponies flying over the fence to land on the roof of the building he was supposed to protect.

Starlight teleported onto the roof first to defuse any possible wards and waited some time until the guard was on the other side of the building. She carefully flew us up one by one. Our infiltration took no more than a minute and went completely unnoticed. We lay down, so nopony would see our bodies against the sky’s background and explored the roof. I felt like a spy while doing all that and I liked the feeling of adrenalin in adrenaline in my blood.

There was a way down just as we had expected and we sneaked inside with no trouble, finding ourselves on top of a large warehouse area, filled with hundreds of boxes. It was dark inside and we could only see their silhouettes, but no one risked to produce a light, not with the guards strolling outside.

“What are we supposed to do now?” Ruby whispered, addressing the whole group.

“We need to find some charts that would tell us what type of cargo they have here,” Rarity answered in kind. “That would tell us if the whole place belongs to the Doctor’s company or if it’s shared with others.”

We quietly agreed. We were on a catwalk which ran along the wall, so we slowly advanced on it, looking for a way down. Even when we got on the floor level, it took us a long time to find the office, since we had to do everything in almost complete darkness to avoid being discovered; the only source of dim light being Starlight’s horn.

Once in the office, we closed the doors behind us and dared to illuminate it fully. All the documents were in a safe, which created a problem for us. Starlight could have easily torn it apart, of course, but we didn’t want to leave any signs of our investigation. That’s where Rarity and her strangely good lockpicking skills came into play. She tinkered with the safe for a few minutes and it finally clicked wide open, revealing a whole stack of papers inside. Rarity stepped aside with a superior smile, inviting us to dig in.

“Wow, that’s cool,” Ruby told her in awe. Rarity’s smile only grew wider from the compliment.

“A lady always has a few tricks up her sleeve,” she said.

Examining the documents, we found out all we needed to know about the warehouse. It really did belong to the Doctor’s company alone and, based on the papers, contained an awful lot of alchemy goods. A great deal more than they would need for their trade. Either they had prepared for years in advance or…Actually, nopony had a solid theory as to why they would do that, so we went ahead to actually check a few boxes with our own eyes. One of our guesses was that he was doing smuggling on a large scale and the documents were simply faked.

We went back to the main warehouse and chose a random box in the middle row. Opening it up, we found a bunch of dried plants, which Starlight was able to recognize as quite common and often used in various potions. All in all, it was nothing suspicious. After sealing the box shut, we found the next one and this time luck was on our side.

Trays upon trays filled with bottles full of potions were inside it. I instantly recognized it as the same stuff the assassin had used on me back in Ponyville. No labels could be found on the bottles and I doubted dangerous potions like those would be allowed on the streets. Besides, there was no mention of potions in the charts we had found in the office.

We exchanged worried looks with each other. The whole box was filled with explosive potions and there was no telling how many boxes like that were kept in there. If we weren’t careful enough…Starlight was able to calm our fears a little by casting a detection spell and confirming that each box was protected by some dampening magic, so it wasn’t likely to explode just because we’d touched it.

Using the same detection spell, Starlight could tell the difference between boxes and led us to one with no special protection. A set of gray armor with some enchantments on it was in this one. I took a helmet that was designed for a unicorn, judging by a hole where a horn should be, and we examined it closely.

“I’ve never seen such armor design before,” Rarity told us, touching the helmet with her pastern. “It’s well-made.”

“Weaponized potions, weird armor… I don’t like it one bit,” Ruby stated, punching the box lightly.

“Such a pity,” an unfamiliar voice commented from behind us.

I jumped in the air, dropping the helmet, which rolled away clanking loudly. We turned around to face the voice as a bright light from the ceiling illuminated the whole place. A snow-white unicorn stallion with a short brown mane and tail stood there with a neutral expression on his face. He didn’t appear strong physically, but his horn radiated a menacing red glow, which gave me the creeps.

He wasn’t alone, however. Five earth ponies stood beside him, glaring at us angrily. Each of them held a police baton in their hooves, though none of them were wearing any kind of uniform. It looked like we’d gotten ourselves into some serious trouble…

“You!” Ruby yelled, taking a few steps towards the unicorn, but I stomped on her tail to hold her off. She threw me an evil glance, but obeyed.

“Ruby. You haven’t learned to keep your muzzle out of other ponies’ business yet,” the unicorn said to her calmly and then his eyes switched to me. “The same goes for you, Sundae.”

“Do you know this pony?” Starlight addressed both of us, but I shook my head. Even if I had known him in the past, I had no memory of it.

“It’s Morning Bright, the Doctor’s henchpony!” Ruby answered instead.

“I prefer the term second-in-command, if you please,” Bright said, frowning slightly. “Anyway, you shouldn’t have come here. I don’t want to dispose of ponies out of the princess’s inner circle, but I have no choice now. I’m afraid you know too much.”

His horn flashed brightly red as soon as he had finished the sentence and he shot a spell at us. After that, chaos ensued.

Part III - Chapter 12: Haunted By the Past

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Chapter 12 – Haunted By the Past

I jumped to the side instinctively to avoid the spell, but Starlight’s hastily raised shield deflected it back to the hostile unicorn. He managed to redirect it to the ceiling, however, where it went right through it, leaving a gaping hole.

Starlight counterattacked by firing an energy beam at her enemy, but it disappeared in a black sphere that he had cast before him. After absorbing the spell, the sphere glowed in an angry red and rapidly shot itself in our direction, exploding right on Starlight’s face. She protected herself by hiding inside an impenetrable crystal.

I wanted to help, but it was too dangerous for me to get involved. Besides, I saw two of the earth ponies dashing after me, waving their batons around. Ruby tackled one of them into the ground, brutally bucking him in the stomach as he tried to get up, but another one intervened before she could finish him off. He threw a series of punches at her which she successfully blocked, giving his friend time to recover. Behind them I saw Rarity fighting two ponies at once as well. That left me one-on-one with my own opponent.

Jumping back on my hooves, I cast a spell I had practiced so much as he swung his baton at my face. I sighed in relief when my own magical shield appeared around me to stop his attack. My relief proved to be short-lived though, as he continued to hit it repeatedly. Holding the spell became harder with each hit and soon, despite all of my efforts, the shield cracked and disappeared, leaving me defenseless.

“Gotcha,” the pony grinned savagely and hit my horn.

My whole head rang from a sharp pain and I raised my foreleg to block his next swing. I grimaced as his baton connected with it painfully, but it was nothing compared to the first hit. I batted his weapon to the side and punched him in the eye before he could react. My hoof was pretty firm, so I hoped it was just as painful as his own attack.

While he was reeling from my punch, I tried to throw him against the wall with my magic, but trying to cast it only caused me a surge of excruciating pain, like I was trying to lift something with a strained arm. It gave the stallion time to recover and he bucked me with his hindlegs. I realized what was happening only at the last moment and jumped back, but couldn’t avoid it completely.

The force of the kick was enough to throw me on my back. I struggled to breathe and desperately tried to get up, but failing miserably. The pony slowly approached me with a triumphant smile, picking up the baton he had dropped on the way.

Just as the pony was about to crush my face, an enraged scream sounded behind him. Ruby landed on his back a moment later, grabbed the baton off his hooves and used it to deliver a few powerful hits to his skull. The stallion dropped under her and lay motionless. Despite the fact that he was just about to kill me, I hoped he was alive himself. I wasn’t evil.

I stood up with Ruby’s help and looked around to assess our situation. It was clearly going in our favor, with Ruby’s opponents on the floor. My eyebrows rose in surprise when I found Rarity jumping around her own opponent — an earth pony mare — and hitting her fast from every side. The other pony who had been attacking her had already been defeated. I hadn’t been expecting her to be able to do that, but then I remembered that she and her friends had saved the world a few times.

Soon, Bright was the last one standing, or more correctly, levitating all over the place, with Starlight following him and trying to hit him with a stream of powerful spells. He managed to avoid every attack and even sent a few powerful comebacks that she barely managed to deflect in time.

Seeing that he was on the losing side, Bright disappeared in a flash of light only to reappear next to Rarity, who was standing separately from us. She didn’t have the time to react as he struck her with some kind of electric spell, making her fall with a shriek onto the floor, twitching. A corner of his mouth lifted up in satisfaction as he glanced back at Starlight.

I felt anger and fear for my friend boiling up inside me. As he was distracted with Starlight, I concentrated some magic in my horn through the terrible pain I felt, and released it in a simple punch at him. His smile vanished as he noticed it, right before it sent him flying into a row of boxes.

He landed on four hooves and looked at us with eyes full of contempt. Starlight joined us, preparing another spell as we advanced on Bright together. He had probably realized that his chances were slim against all of us, because he teleported away the next moment, but not before casting his most devastating spell yet.

A wall of truly infernal fire spread from his horn right before he disappeared, heading straight for us. Starlight immediately cast a protective shield around us, but I gasped in horror after realizing that Rarity was lying unconscious right in its path. Concentrating hard, I grabbed her with my magic and pulled her inside the shield with us, falling over from an agonizing pain in my horn right after.

The wave of fire ended, leaving everything around us in flames. The ponies we had been fighting were burned to a crisp and half the boxes around us became nothing more than ashes. Only those protected by spells were still holding on, but even they weren’t going to survive for long. And considering all the explosive potions inside them — we wouldn’t survive for long either.

“Everything is going to blow!” Ruby screamed, realizing it as well.

“Hold onto me!” yelled Starlight, levitating me and Rarity towards her and waiting until Ruby jumped on her back. After that, she followed Bright’s example and teleported us all as far away from the warehouse as possible.

***

We reappeared on the street adjacent to the warehouse a second later. All I wanted to do was just lie on the ground and rest, but I forced myself to stand up and check on Rarity, with the others watching in concern. Her mane was slightly burned at the ends, but otherwise she appeared fine and was already opening her eyes. I helped her to get back on her shaking hooves and she nodded towards me thankfully.

“W-what happened?” Rarity asked in a quivering voice.

“That bastard shocked you…literally,” answered Ruby and I frowned at her terribly inappropriate pun. Rarity chuckled weakly nonetheless.

“I can still feel it…”

“Girls, I think we should—”

Starlight was interrupted by a series of loud explosions from inside the warehouse. We all turned to watch as the building that was engulfed in flames slowly crumbled. It was kind of magnificent to behold, but not everypony was able to enjoy it as I did. The guards who hadn’t been among the ponies who had tried to kill us were running around in the yard, shouting in panic. The poor ponies probably had been kept in the dark about the real purpose of the building they were hired to protect and now were desperately trying to figure out what had happened.

There was no point in sticking around any longer — Bright could return with reinforcements to finish us off at any moment — so we trotted back to the hotel as fast as possible in our roughed-up condition.

While we walked in silence through the night-time city, I thought about the meaning of our discovery. The warehouse had been used to store explosives, enchanted armor and Celestia knows what else – all of which were highly illegal, obviously. Why the Doctor would need all those items was much less obvious, however. Perhaps he was trading them in the black market, but in my heart I knew that something much more sinister was at play.

Whatever the deal was, I was sure the police would handle it from here. Our little investigation had clearly gone beyond our control and it was time to alert them to what was going on. Now, after a known associate of the Doctor was directly involved in the attack on us, the chief would have no choice but to take us seriously and if not — Twilight definitely would if she still had any doubts.

I remembered the ponies who had died at the warehouse because of Bright’s spell. I didn’t know who they were and why they had tried to kill us on his orders, but I still felt uncomfortable at the thought that our actions had caused their deaths. I tried to take comfort in the fact that it was Bright’s fault, not ours. I found myself hating that pony even more than the Doctor. Maybe because I’d never met him as far as I remembered, so Bright was a living representation of his evil deeds for me.

“Ruby,” I called to my friend, “Do you know this Bright?”

The unicorn had been acting like he knew both of us personally and I wondered what our relationship in in the past had been. I suspected we were far from friends though.

“Yeah, I know that bastard,” Ruby answered with poison in her voice. “He was the Doctor’s protege at the college and was one of the members of the expedition. He used to be a lot nicer.”

Soon we returned to the hotel. The receptionist pony who was napping in his workplace in the foyer woke up and followed us with his eyes, no doubt wondering why we were coming back in the middle of the night with such a beat-up appearance. I wished my night had been as peaceful as his… We gave him a nod and followed right past him to our room upstairs.

Once there, we could finally relax. I dropped on the bed — I was exhausted after the fight we’d had and was still suffering from the pain in my horn and chest where I had been hit. Rarity was the only one who had gotten hurt more than me, while Ruby and Starlight had walked out almost without a scratch. I was actually surprised at Rarity’s prowess in fighting. Until Bright’s intervention, she had been doing fine for herself and had managed to defeat two opponents while I wasn’t even able to handle just one.

As soon as we got to the room, Rarity rushed to the mirror to assess the damage to her once fabulous appearance. I saw her devastated face in the reflection as she saw scorched spots all over her body; her mane looked no better. She locked herself in the bathroom a moment later, asking us not to bother her for a few hours as she would try to recover her former beauty.

Though I felt sorry for her, at the moment I was concerned more about myself. I told Starlight what had happened to me during the brawl and she grew worried immediately. She took a close look at it and cast a spell to check it for any serious injuries and we both sighed in relief when she had found none. As she explained to me later, a unicorn’s horn was very sensitive, especially during or after casting a spell, and Starlight warned me that it may cause some discomfort for me to use magic for a day or two, but it should pass with no permanent damage. I was happy to hear it — it would be horrible to lose my ability just as I was starting to rely on it so much.

“I’m going to send a letter to Twilight now,” Starlight told us.

I was going to offer the same — the Princess needed to know everything. With the help of Ruby and me, we quickly composed a letter for her, describing the events that had happened to us that unfortunate day. After the letter was done, Starlight rolled it into a scroll and cast a spell that caused it to burst into flames. Ruby and I gasped at the same time, but she only chuckled at our baffled faces. We did too after she revealed it was just a special method to send it via Spike. Thanks to him, Twilight would get the letter at once, though she wouldn’t be able to send her answer the same way.

After we got the biggest concerns out of the way, I found myself dozing off. There was still one tiny issue remaining before we could hit the hay though. Because we had only two beds and four ponies, each of us had to sleep with somepony else and we had to decide who would share the bed with whom. However, the choice had been made for me before I could even voice my own opinion. Ruby was so thrilled to share a bed with me that I just couldn’t find the resolve to argue, even though I was inclined to pick Rarity. Because she gave me the impression of being a more stable co-sleeper, not for any weird reasons.

“Keep telling yourself that, pervert,” Ruby poked me in my flank teasingly after I said it out loud.

We settled on opposite sides of each other and I managed to fall asleep almost at once, even despite Rarity’s mutterings from the bathroom, and slept until the very morning. I only woke up once somewhere in the middle of my slumber, when Rarity had finally finished her business and went to her own bed.

When I was ready to get up I discovered that my suspicions about Ruby had been correct. She was a terrible co-sleeper. Apparently, half the bed wasn’t good enough for her. Ruby took my own side as well and not only that — she also engulfed me with her limbs like I was some giant pillow for her. I should have fought harder for Rarity…

It felt very warm and comfortable, but also a little weird, so I carefully started to disentangle myself. She only made some disgruntled noises and tightened her strong embrace around me even more, as if I was a toy somepony had tried to take away from a baby. It was going nowhere at this pace. As much as I didn’t want to disturb her, there was no other way.

“Ruby, wake up!” I yelled in her face.

That produced a much more powerful effect than I had planned, as she shoved me off the bed in blind panic. I fell on the floor with a loud thump. “Ouch.”

Ruby’s wide-eyed face leaned over me from the bed.

“Sundae, why are you on the floor?”

“You were snuggling me,” I accused her instead of answering the question. Ruby blushed heavily and dropped a pillow on my face.

I batted it to the side and climbed on all fours to see Ruby giggling on the bed like a crazy pony. I couldn’t allow an insult against my dignity to go unpunished. Grabbing a pillow in my mouth, I threw it back at her and rushed straight for the bathroom to do the morning routine. Our little commotion had woken up the girls and so I had to get there first before anypony else claimed it.

It took two long hours for all of us to clean ourselves up after yesterday’s brawl. Rarity looked almost as great as ever now. I praised her appearance out loud — skipping the word “almost” — to lift her mood.

“Thank you, darling,” she said, grinning happily. “You have no idea how long it took to trim all the burned hair…”

I found my saddlebag, which I had left in the room before going on our adventure, and put it on my back using levitation, noticing that my horn had fully recovered. I felt no discomfort using it now, which improved my mood considerably. After everypony was finally ready, we all gathered around to think through our strategy.

“That Ironcuff won’t listen to us,” Ruby voiced her concern first. “She’ll just throw us out again.”

“She’s the chief of the Manehattan police for a reason, darling,” retorted Rarity with a slight condescending tone. “Even though our first meeting with her was rather unpleasant, I’m more than sure she won’t dare to dismiss us that easily now. Before, all we had were some wild guesses and accusations, while now we have some actual facts at our disposal. Not to mention we’re all witnesses to Bright’s attempt to murder us. And, as I understand, he’s the Doctor’s closest supporter.”

“We have zilch,” Ruby waved her hoof in exasperation. “Everything is gone along with the warehouse. And Bright escaped and there is no proof he’d even been there. It’s our word against his.”

“There should be enough left to support our claim,” said Starlight. “And Rarity here is an ex-bearer of one of the Elements of Harmony. If she says somepony has tried to kill her and we all confirm it, they’re bound to listen to us.”

“I think you’re underestimating her stupidity. She made her hate for the Princess very clear,” said Ruby and closed her eyes for a second, probably recalling some unpleasant memory. “I’ve met nobleponies like her before —all they care about are ponies of blue blood. They won’t listen to ponies like us.”

“Maybe we should wait for Twilight’s answer,” I voiced my humble opinion. “She’ll know what’s the best thing to do. The chief can think whatever she wants – Twilight is still an authority and she can ask Princess Celestia for help if the chief keeps acting unreasonable.”

“Time is of the essence, dear,” Rarity told me. “We don’t know when we’ll get Twilight’s answer and the more we wait, the more time the Doctor has to cover his tracks.”

“I agree,” Starlight nodded. “We’ve wasted enough time as it is.”

That argument decided it. Nopony wanted to give the Doctor more time, so we had to risk going to the police again despite Ruby’s reservations and mine.

***

Five hours later.

I sat on the cold brick floor and watched my friend’s sullen faces across the small room, wondering why everything had gone so wrong. We had spent a few hours in this prison cell already and I didn’t know how much longer we would have to remain here. Everypony was silent; no one wanted to talk after what had occurred earlier. We should have seen it coming really, but that was easy to say in hindsight.

***

Five hours ago.

The chief predictably didn’t want to meet us at first, but she changed her mind when she learned we knew something about the warehouse explosion last night. Apparently, it was the big news at the station by the time we had arrived. We were led into her office with two policeponies escorting us and we saw her sitting behind her desk with the same cold expression that I remembered. The policeponies left the room, leaving us with her alone.

“You said you know something about the warehouse explosion?” Ironcuff asked us without any preamble.

“We do,” confirmed Rarity. “In fact, we’re all direct witnesses of the event.”

The chief frowned after hearing this.

“So you were at the scene last night?” she asked another question.

“Of course we were. What part of direct witnesses do you not understand?” Ruby said rather rudely; maybe we should have asked for her to wait outside.

“Just tell me what happened,” Ironcuff said without any visible reaction to Ruby’s outburst. Somehow it worried me more than if she had thrown a fit of rage as I had expected.

Rarity told her the story. We made a few alterations to it beforehoof, of course, like skipping our illegal break in into the store and some more questionable details of our investigation. Ironcuff just sat there speechless for a whole minute, digesting our tale. I don’t know what she was expecting us to say, but obviously not that. She slowly leaned forward, having come to some kind of conclusion.

“So you’re saying you broke into a private warehouse and got attacked by one of the owners of the company it belonged to?” she asked, narrowing her stare.

I knew immediately what she was implying and my friends got it too, judging by their concerned expressions. I should have guessed this mare would interpret the situation in the worst possible light for us. But we had come up with an explanation — or a blatant lie — just for a question like that.

“We heard screaming for help from the inside,” I told her, holding a calm expression on my face. “They’d stopped when we got there, but then we found all the illegal stuff Rarity told you about. That’s when Bright attacked us.”

“Just send somepony there and you’ll find it,” said Starlight. “Some items would still survive even after the fire. Maybe you’ll even find the remains of the poor ponies he left there to die.”

“A team of my best ponies are already working there,” Ironcuff told us coldly. “They should report back soon, but I think we already got the lead suspects.”

“You don’t mean us, do you?” Rarity asked, drooping her ears.

I had no doubt in my mind that we were exactly who she had meant, so her next actions came as no surprise for me.

“Officers!” she called the policeponies waiting outside. “Put those criminals in jail.”

We had no choice but to surrender. Ruby was about to make a fuss, but I managed to talk her out of it — resisting would only cause more trouble for us. With a resigned sigh, Ruby finally agreed to go quietly. I fully shared her frustration myself, everypony did. The officers put a special ring on my fellow unicorns’ horns and mine, but I didn’t know what they were for yet. Then we were escorted to a temporary holding cell in the same building.

***

Present time.

As Starlight explained to me later, the rings suppressed our magic, so we couldn’t escape even if we wanted to. We didn’t, of course — that would only lead to more trouble. If we wanted to get out, we had to act smart. Anyway, that ring was a nasty little device that couldn’t be removed by the usual means. It was enchanted so only the pony with a special key could take it off.

There was a tiny hope the chief would change her mind when her ponies found some evidence of our story in the warehouse’s ruins. That is if she wasn’t actually on the Doctor’s side to begin with. I wouldn’t put it past her with her unhelpful attitude. Putting us in jail like that would give her and the Doctor plenty of time to hide everything important.

“I think it would be best if we denied ever being in the warehouse,” Rarity finally said, breaking the long silence. Everypony looked at her in confusion and she explained her idea further. “No one saw us there except for Bright and his unfortunate henchponies.”

“But we’ve admitted everything to Ironcuff already,” Ruby said, hitting the wall in frustration.

“Please, darling…She was alone when we said it and it wasn’t even recorded. Besides, she obviously has some prejudice against us. It wouldn’t hold up in any court.”

Starlight nodded in support of her friend’s idea and her ears perked up.

“That could work,” she said thoughtfully. “Unless Bright claims he saw us at the warehouse.”

“No, he won’t dare to say anything if we deny ever being there,” Rarity shook her head. “It would be he alone accusing the four of us, close friends of the princess, of sneaking into the warehouse and somehow blowing it all up for no good reason. It would sound crazy and nopony is going to believe it. Besides, I don’t think he or the Doctor are the type of ponies who resolve their disputes in court.”

“That all actually sounds reasonable,” I found myself agreeing with her proposal. “But that leaves us back at square one. Our whole trip in Manehattan was in vain.”

“Not in vain,” Rarity put her hoof on my shoulder in reassurance. “We know much more about the Doctor and his operations now. And I’m sure that Princess Celestia herself won’t dismiss us as quickly as this nasty police mare. Knowing from us that he’s up to no good, she will be able to launch an investigation against him to find some new evidence.”

We all quickly agreed to our new plan of action. All we had to do now was to wait until somepony released us, but it was easier to do it knowing that not all hope was lost. If Ironcuff proved as unreasonable as ever and refused to let us out, Twilight would know and come to our rescue. I was so calm now that I even fell into a nap.

***

I was woken up by the pleasant sight of Twilight herself standing behind the bars. I realized that I was the one behind bars here, but it just looked that way. Twilight wasn’t alone, however, and the pony accompanying her ruined my mood just by being here. Chief Ironcuff stood with an unreadable expression on her face, but I could almost physically feel her loathing of the princess and us.

I noticed a couple of new ponies along with them too — a yellow earth pony mare and a blue pegasus stallion. Both had dark sunglasses and the same short manecuts. They also wore similar black ties and collars on their neck, making them look like some typical government agents.

Twilight didn’t look amused. In fact, she was downright angry. I just hoped she was angry at the chief, not at us.

“The chief here claims you were in the warehouse that burned down last night and had a fight against Morning Bright, co-owner of the company it belonged to,” Twilight began in a neutral voice, skipping the greetings. “However, she failed to provide any evidence to her claim and Morning Bright himself stated he had no idea what had caused the fire during our meeting with him. So, have you or have you not been in the warehouse?”

Only the deaf or dumb wouldn’t pick up on her thick attempts to hint us towards the right course of action. We were neither and, besides, we had come up with the same idea earlier.

“Of course not, darling,” said Rarity, chuckling at the very absurdity of it. “Why would we sneak into some warehouse in the middle of the night?”

“That’s it,” Twilight turned to the chief with a triumphant smile. “You have no reason to keep them detained and you’ll be in some serious trouble if you do.”

Ironcuff didn’t appear surprised by us going back on our own words. She had probably regretted her decision to meet us without any witnesses. Gritting her teeth, the mare took out a key and opened the door of our jail cell. She moved her head, showing us out. We were only too happy to oblige.

“Let’s go,” Twilight told us.

We left the building promptly with the two strange pony agents following us, stopping only to remove our suppressor rings. I was grateful for Twilight getting us out like that, even though I hadn’t expected her to come to Manehattan so quickly. And it looked like she had already managed to have a meeting with Morning Bright.

I took a deep breath of free air once we had gotten outside, before turning back to my friends. I could tell the others were bursting with questions, but we were reluctant to talk freely with the two agents listening to every word. We became more at ease, however, once we had a proper introduction.

“First of all, I’m glad to see you’re alright,” Twilight said, addressing all of us and giving each a quick hug. “I was so worried after getting your letter, so I flew straight to Manehattan. I also wrote to Celestia and told her everything; she sent these two honorable ponies to help us. You can trust them with everything.”

“I’m Agent Broom and my partner is Agent Clipper, CSS,” the earth pony mare introduced herself to us. Though I had no idea what CSS was, it sounded pretty important. “I already know your names, so you can skip the introduction.”

We trotted through a street going nowhere in particular while sharing with Twilight all the details that we couldn’t fit into our short letter. In turn, she told us everything she had done after arriving in Manehattan herself, with Agent Broom adding something to her story from time to time.

Our letter had told her we planned to go to the police, so when Twilight didn’t find us at the hotel, she knew where to go and what to expect from the chief. We were already locked up by the time she had arrived and Ironcuff predictably refused to let us go, holding our own foolish statement against us. Twilight had no choice but to ask help from Celestia and she gave it in form of her most trusted agents in Manehattan. As I had learned, CSS stood for Celestial State Security, a special division within the Royal Guard that specialized in more subtle dealing with enemies of the state than direct attack, and Celestia judged it was the job for them.

Twilight and the agents visited the ruins of the warehouse, but they couldn’t find anything. The police team on the site promised to look for anything suspicious, but either the fire had been too powerful to leave any evidence or the Doctor had had time to clean up in the short time he had. Whatever the answer was, the warehouse was a dead end now, though Agent Broom promised to keep an eye out for any potential discovery. Their next logical step was to meet the Doctor himself, but unfortunately he had left Manehattan the same night. Instead, they found Bright in his place, who claimed to be in shock after the disaster that struck the company.

Even though they couldn’t accuse him, that gave Twilight an idea to use the same trick against the chief — complete denial of our involvement. It was a return to the status quo, but it was the best way out of the situation and everypony, even the agents, had agreed with that. After all, our methods yesterday weren’t exactly legal and we didn’t even have anything to show for it.

Our mood was high despite the apparent failure. The most important part was that Celestia believed us and had tasked the CSS to thoroughly investigate the Doctor’s company. That meant we could finally relax and let the professionals do their job. I glanced at Twilight and realized that she didn’t look as happy as the others.

“What’s wrong?”

“I should have asked Celestia for help earlier,” Twilight hung her head in shame. “You wouldn’t have had to risk your lives if I had. But I was so obsessed with that damn mirror…”

“I told you it was—,” I lashed Starlight with my tail before she could continue. Twilight looked upset already; there was no need to make it worse.

“Twilight, darling, it was our own choice that put us in danger,” said Rarity, throwing a burning stare at Starlight. “You couldn’t have known the situation would escalate this much. It was reasonable of you to assume the police would help us.”

“I agree with her, Princess,” Agent Broom said. “It wasn’t really our level of threat before, but now it looks like it is. We missed a whole criminal organization thriving under our own muzzles. I was afraid something like that would happen after the mayor put that noble horse Ironcuff in charge of the police. Her actions raise some questions about her loyalty and competence. I can’t imagine the same thing happening under the old chief. Be assured, we’re going to bring them to justice now that we know what to look for.”

“Thanks, guys,” Starlight told both agents, even the ever-silent Agent Clipper.

They went on their way soon, leaving us alone with Twilight. We quickly found a nice place to eat since we all were pretty hungry after spending half the day in jail. I ordered noodles for myself and happily enjoyed them, ignoring the conversation around me until my plate became empty.

“Can we return to Ponyville now?” asked Rarity. “I can’t believe I’m saying it, but I’ve had enough of Manehattan for a long while.”

Starlight and Ruby exchanged weird glances after her words and Twilight sighed. I looked at her with curiosity.

“You still haven’t told her, have you?” she asked and they both shook their heads.

“I just wanted to pick the right time…” Starlight said without conviction.

I had no idea what they were talking about at first, but then I realized they were keeping some kind of secret from me. I immediately grew worried. It was probably connected to my past in some way and it couldn’t be anything good if they were hiding it.

“I’ve learned from experience that the longer you wait, the worse it’s going to be,” Twilight scorned Starlight slightly.

Her ears went flat against her head and she mumbled sorry. Ruby appeared no less distressed by Twilight’s words.

“What are you talking about, girls?”

“Your-parents-live-in-this-city-and-Twilight-thought-you-should-meet-them!” Ruby blurted out so fast that I could barely understand it. My eyes grew wide when I finally did and I heard Rarity gasp almost inaudibly.

Twilight glared at Ruby with annoyance.

“I said it would be good to meet them, but that’s entirely your choice, Sundae,” Twilight assured me. “I would advise you to do it though.”

I was completely disorientated by the news. I knew that my pony family lived somewhere in Equestria, but I had shoved those thoughts to the back of my mind while living in Ponyville — I’d had enough problems to deal with as it were without adding family issues to the mix. My tail twitched in annoyance; I was already dreaming about going back to Ponyville, but now I couldn’t leave. Not until I’d met my real parents.

I could have pretended they didn’t exist before when I didn’t know who they were and where they lived, but now being in the same city as them I just couldn’t turn my back on them. They’d been thinking their daughter was dead for half a decade and I would feel pretty rotten for keeping them in the dark any longer. I looked at my friend’s worried faces and I let out a long sigh.

“Tell me more about my parents.”

***

The building where my parents lived wasn’t anything fancy. It was tall and had a lot of different apartments for middle class ponies in it. The same kind of building was a common sight in this neighborhood. My mum and dad were typical ponies just like hundreds of others inhabiting it, but they were special to me.

I remembered what Ruby and the others had told me about them. My mum worked in an office for some small company, while my dad was a construction worker. Both of them were earth ponies. I was surprised to learn that at first, but then Twilight explained that it wasn’t strange for ponies of one tribe to have a child of the other. I was also their only child.

Their apartment was close to the top floor and the higher I climbed the stairs, the more doubts I had. They had lived without me for six years; surely they would survive a few more days. Or weeks, or months…I was on edge and I tried to calm down, but it wasn’t easy. I always hated important meetings.

Ruby walked close to me, watching me and trying to guess my thoughts. My other friends followed us too, though they decided to keep themselves to the background, letting me and Ruby handle the reunion ourselves. To be honest, I would prefer it to be the opposite. Why can’t Twilight go and talk to them?! Because she wasn’t their daughter, I told myself. You are.

Finally, there was a door with the right number on it. I reached my hoof forward to knock, but hesitated at the last moment. Then I put my hoof back to the floor and turned to Twilight.

“Maybe we should come another time?”

“Too late to chicken out, Sundae,” Ruby answered instead and knocked on the door loudly.

I froze in terror as she just winked at me.

No one was answering for some time. A hope that no one was home grew in me, but it died when I heard some noise from the other side. A mare’s voice asked us to wait a bit while she found the key, and soon the door finally opened. A tired pony who fit the description of my mother stood there and looked at us with a bored expression. Maybe she thought we were going to sell her something.

She was tiny for a pony — almost half a head lower than me — and she wore thick glasses on her muzzle. Her coat was a dark orange shade. I looked at her, trying to get it into my head that she was my real mother –the pony who had given me birth and raised me –even though I didn’t remember any of it. The mare continued to look at us quietly, waiting for us to begin our sales speech, but then a spark of recognition flickered in her eyes.

“Sundae?” she gasped and fell on her haunches.

“Yep, that’s me…mum,” I managed to say.

“Hello, Ms. Milkshake,” Ruby said in a much more lively fashion, waving her hoof in greeting. “Sundae’s back!”

I felt like I ought to do something to calm the shocked pony, so I approached her reluctantly and gave her a hug, which she returned. But instead of calming down, she started to sob more and more. A large stallion came out to check out the commotion and froze in the door frame. I guessed he was my dad because he had the same coat color as me — brightly yellow.

“Sundae? Is that you?” he asked me unsure.

I could only nod in the answer, seeing tears welling up in his eyes. I felt quite emotional myself and was afraid that if I opened my mouth, the rain of tears would be unstoppable. The pony approached us and embraced both me and my mum in a big hug. That went on for some time until we decided it was enough for now and broke it up.

Just as everypony was starting to slowly come to their senses, Twilight made her appearance and threw our established peace into disarray. My mum jumped at her, praising her name and thanking her for bringing me back, with my father joining her example. Twilight was brightly red from embarrassment and no doubt regretted coming along at all.

“I didn’t save your daughter,” she denied stoically, but my parents completely ignored her. “Well, maybe technically I did because I helped with the portal restoration, but it’s no big deal...”

She shouldn’t have mentioned this technicality, because it only renewed the fervor of my parents. Rarity and Starlight giggled at the whole situation; even I couldn’t withhold a smile. Eventually, we managed to pacify them and after hugging one more time my mother rushed us all into the living room. She promised to make a feast in celebration of my miraculous return.

The apartment looked casual from the inside. It wasn’t as poor as Ruby’s room in Canterlot, but also wasn’t quite up to the hotel’s standards. It was somewhere in the middle, though I liked it that way. I sat back on a sofa with my dad and Ruby settling next to me.

Now, after he had calmed down a little, my father wished to know more about me and my life all these years away from them. I promised to tell them all about it as soon as my mother returned from the kitchen. We had discussed what I was going to tell my parents in advance and decided to skip the part about the Doctor completely. It was Ruby’s idea and we all agreed with her reasoning. She didn’t want my parents to end up like her when she went against the Doctor alone and he destroyed her career for it.

Thankfully, we didn’t have to wait for long. My mum brought a few dishes from the kitchen, making it an improvised feast. We barely touched the food though as I was telling them my story, starting from my life in the human world until this very moment. My parents were shocked and devastated when they learned about my lost memories, but I reassured them that even if I never reclaimed them, we were going to make new ones together. That earned me a new round of hugging and tears.

“You’re welcome to live with us if you want, Sundae,” my mum offered me.

“Oh…” I said in surprise.

It was nice of her, but I had to politely refuse. Even though I had spent only a week in Ponyville, I had already grown very fond of it. Besides, living with them would only endanger their lives because the Doctor could strike at me again at any moment, especially after what we had done to his warehouse. Though technically it was Bright’s fault, but I knew he wouldn’t see it that way.

Another reason for staying in Ponyville was learning magic. I’m sure that my parents were nice ponies, but as good as they were — they didn’t know a thing about unicorn magic, with both of them being of the earth pony race. I promised to visit them as often as I could though and they were thrilled at the idea of visiting Twilight’s castle.

Our talk slowly shifted to Twilight herself. Turns out my parents were huge fans of her, unlike Ironcuff. They were out of themselves with excitement that she was now sitting in their very room. That excitement was only doubled by the fact that they still thought of her as my savior.

My mum also knew a thing or two about clothes, which made her a pony of interest for Rarity. The two chatted about fashion for quite some time. At some point I joined their conversation as well — after all, I used to wear clothes all the time when I’d been a human, so I thought of myself as an expert. I’d never been so wrong in my life…

We stayed up talking right into the night and my parents generously offered us to spend it in their apartment. I gladly accepted, though Twilight had to politely refuse. There were simply not enough beds for everypony. In the end it was me, Ruby and Starlight who stayed for the night with Rarity and Twilight going back to the hotel. No one said it out loud, but Starlight stayed in case there was some attack, though I prayed to gods that it wouldn’t happen.

***

It was time for us to leave the city. Our adventures in Manehattan were pretty dangerous and I was happy to finally return to a peaceful life in Ponyville. It was sad to say goodbye to my parents though, but more so for themselves than me. After all, I had just known them for a day and simply hadn’t had enough time to become properly attached, while they had known me for their whole lives, raising me as a filly.

We were now having a farewell dinner in a small cafe at the train station. My parents told me a few funny and slightly embarrassing stories from my foalhood, hoping to spark my memories that way, though I warned them it was unlikely to work. It didn’t, but at least everypony had some laughs listening to my silly misadventures as a filly.

Our train was due to leave by noon, so we had roughly half an hour left to say our goodbyes and board the train. My parents promised to visit me in Ponyville as soon as possible to catch up on all the time we’d lost. My father kept his emotions mostly to himself, but my mum was crying openly, saddened by my leaving so soon after our reunion. I hugged her and assured her that I wouldn’t disappear anymore, even though it wasn’t guaranteed with the danger of the Doctor hanging over me. I skipped that last part, of course.

I was worried the Doctor would decide to harm my parents somehow. I shared my concerns with Twilight this morning and she promised to write a letter to Celestia to ask her to dispatch somepony from the CSS to protect them in secret until the Doctor had been dealt with. It slightly reduced my fears.

The announcement over our heads warned us about the train’s departure in five minutes and asked all the passengers to board the wagons. It was finally time to say goodbye.

“Take care of our little filly, Ruby,” my mum kept asking my friend.

“I will, Ms. Milkshake, I swear.”

My other friends promised the same, which put my parents at ease. The promise from Twilight played the most important role in it, I suspected. Mum and dad walked with us to the train and we hugged one last time before going inside to find our places. In a few minutes, the train slowly began to move, accelerating with each second. I watched the city of Manehattan vanish before my eyes and didn’t regret leaving it behind.

Part III - Chapter 13: Marks and Revelations

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Chapter 13 – Marks and Revelations

Marcus and Spike were waiting for us at the castle. Twilight was worried about how they were holding up — apparently she had left in such a haste that she had barely explained what had happened. They were probably worried sick. Or at least we thought so until we discovered them playing a board game in the throne room, along with Big Mac, a giant red stallion who was in some way related to Applejack.

It was my first time seeing the pony and it left me breathless. I couldn’t rip my eyes off him as he sat in one of the chairs surrounding the table. He was so…big and muscular, he could probably break me like a twig in one move. My heart pounded quicker in my chest just at the sight of the handsome stallion; I felt some strange warmness under my tail. It’s like I wanted him—

“Oh boy,” Twilight exhaled behind me, interrupting my thoughts. “We forgot to warn her about the heat.”

Her statement threw Big Mac in a coughing fit and I would say he was blushing if his coat wasn’t so red. Spike gazed at me with his spooky reptile eyes as Ruby fell on the crystal floor beside me, laughing and jerking her legs in the air. I arched my eyebrow at Marcus, but he just shrugged, being as confused as me.

An embarrassing realization hit me.

“Ah…” That explained my unhealthy reaction to such a lovely stallion.

It made my heart clench seeing him galloping out of the throne room like I was a wildfire. I enjoyed the nice view of his hindquarters and his long blond tail, fluttering behind him…I sighed when he vanished behind a corner and looked around, finally noticing the funny stares my friends were giving me.

“What’s wrong?”

My innocent question renewed Ruby’s trashing on the floor and it took her a few minutes to pull herself together and finally stand up straight, displaying an enormous grin glued to her muzzle.

“It’s my fault, really,” said Twilight with a reddening face. “I knew you don’t have any memories about being a pony and I should have guessed that issue would rise up eventually.”

“Something would rise up, alright,” giggled Ruby, not in the slightest perturbed by Twilight’s murderous stare.

“Well, that’s awkward,” said Starlight flatly. “You two should explain it to her while I go and tell the boys all about Manehattan.”

She gestured for Marcus and Spike to follow her and the boys obliged happily. The three of them cleared the throne room, leaving me alone with a blushing Twilight and a giggling Ruby. The princess threw her a disapproving glance and sighed heavily.

“Fine, I’ll handle it. You see, Sundae, there is a special time of the month when every mare feels that desire…to mate.” — Ruby interrupted her with an amused nicker and Twilight flickered a tail at her face before continuing — “It may be difficult to control at first, but it gets better once you get used to it. Or so I was told at least. Most mares, including me, prefer to use a heat-reducing potion. It’s simply a lifesaver.”

“Lame,” Ruby commented under her muzzle, but I caught it. Judging by Twilight’s annoyed ear flinch she did too.

Twilight warned me that the heat lasted from a few days to a full week depending on the mare. It struck the poor creatures roughly once a month and it was quite difficult to handle without a potion. Even though this was my first time experiencing it, I already dreaded the future. Even though I had caught just a glimpse, it was difficult not to think about Big Mac’s big…I wildly shook my head to get rid of the unwelcome thoughts.

“Where I can get one of those potions?”

***

Starlight was about to head to Zecora’s to give her the ingredients we had bought in Manehattan, so Ruby and I went along. The princess assured me that Zecora would have the potion I needed. She herself bought them from Zecora since the zebra had settled in the Everfree Forest. Ponyville had its own small alchemy store, of course, but it was losing customers to the competition.

I kept my eyes staring at my own hooves while we hurried through the town, but even the smell drove me crazy. I risked glancing forward on the road, but instead got captured by Starlight’s purple hindquarters, which swayed alluringly in front of me. Damn, was I attracted to other mares as well?! Wrestling the desire to jump at her right then and there, I forced myself to look away and concentrated on trotting. Finally, we got to the forest border, where a fresh wind cleared up my head a little.

I took a few deep breaths and looked at the dark trees. After everything I’d heard about the Everfree Forest, actually being there wasn’t as terrifying as I had expected. I was shuddering on my first trip here before our adventure in Manehattan, but I remained more at ease now. My ears swiveled to every sound nevertheless — there were some real monsters we could meet in the Forest, though we were unlikely to do so on the fringe, where Zecora lived.

It was unlikely, but still possible.

Luckily, no monster decided to eat us along the way and we reached Zecora’s hut without any trouble. I allowed myself to relax at the sight of her tree hut; she was home, judging by the shimmering fire light out of the windows. Starlight knocked and the zebra let us in, immediately returning to brewing some substance in the boiling cauldron.

"Hello, my little pony friends. Let me guess, your journey to Manehattan was a success?

"It was actually," Starlight told her, levitating a small package out of her saddlebag. “And we brought you the ingredients as promised.”

"Then it seems like I can brew the potion! Let's waste no time and put this plan into motion."

Starlight handed over the expensive package to the zebra and she promised to start on it as soon as she finished her current work. Zecora’s eyes darted towards me, no doubt noticing my weird behavior around my friends.

“You’re acting quite on edge, my dear. If something is bothering you, I’m here.”

"Zecora, Twilight said you have those... heat reducing potions in store?"

"Of course I do, Sundae,” Zecora winked at me, “Is this the first time for you, by the way?"

I nodded silently as Zecora snatched a tiny bottle off one of her shelves and gave it to me. Starlight paid for the potion and I frowned slightly. I was grateful, of course, but I hated being dependent on others like that… I pushed it out of my mind and gulped down the whole bottle. It didn’t taste good, but hopefully it would make my life easier.

***

Zecora promised to have everything ready by tomorrow and so we left until then. I noticed the effects of the potion on our way back. My unnatural attraction to stallions, and apparently mares, didn’t disappear completely, but it was much easier to control. Still, I couldn’t help but look at the ponies around us as we trotted on the populated streets of Ponyville.

A gray pegasus mare with a blond mane trotted by, nodding at me in greeting and I followed her with my stare. I had never noticed how nice the ponies looked before, though it was probably the side effects of my condition. I was able to appreciate the view without losing my head now, thanks to the potion, and I did so until Ruby caught me in the act. My cheeks burned hot as she giggled.

“Sorry,” I mumbled and dashed to the castle’s gate, which was already close.

Having no better plans, I went straight to my room. Marcus was waiting for me inside, sitting in my cozy reading chair. He gave me a friendly nod upon my arrival and then hugged quickly. My friend had never been a fan of hugs, I reflected. I guess the ponies were rubbing off on him.

“I’ve heard what happened in Manehattan,” he started solemnly. “You almost died out there. Maybe if I’d gone with you that wouldn’t have happened.”

“Don’t be silly, Marcus,” I said, though I was pleased to know he cared about me like that.

“It’s not silly,” he denied with unexpected bitterness as I settled onto my soft couch. “I got stuck in this world by helping you and it would be dumb of me to stop that just because I can’t go back.”

My ears drooped. I suddenly felt like a selfish monster who cared only about her own problems while my friend suffered because of me. I should have done more to help. I suddenly realized that I’d barely talked to him in the past week, being too focused on my studies…

“No, no, no, I don’t blame you, Sundae,” Marcus quickly reassured me and I glanced at him in surprise. “I know you’re dealing with your own issues. You’ve just found your real parents, for God’s sake, not to mention all this being pony business. What I meant to say is I’m finally starting to accept that I could be stuck here forever. Besides, I thought that even if Twilight were to fix the portal somehow, I’m pretty sure I’d go to prison if I went back. The police are looking for you there, remember? It won’t look good if I just show up alone.”

“I guess you’re right…” I sighed, feeling a lump in my throat.

“I want to do something useful. I looked around in town for a job, but nobody wants to hire a strange dude from another world.”

“Why don’t you ask Twilight? I’m sure she would help.”

“I don’t want to bother her — she’s too busy with this damn portal already,” said Marcus waving his hand. “I’ll handle it alone, thanks. I just needed to get it off my chest.”

Despite what my friend had said, I promised to myself to bring it up the next time I saw Twilight. I knew Marcus — he never asked for help even when he really needed it, but he always helped others without asking. I would return the favor; it was the least I could do.

For now, though, we decided to go on a job hunt together. We got outside without meeting anypony and I followed Marcus’ lead, briefly noting that I wasn’t attracted to him as a male in the slightest. There was a job center in Ponyville and Marcus checked out a few possible vacancies every day but with no luck so far. We hoped that maybe if I as a pony went along, they would be more likely to accept him.

Turns out while I’d been holed up in the castle for most of the week, Marcus had been exploring Ponyville, so now he walked through the town with big determined strides; I had to go on a fast trot to keep up. We checked another open vacancy — Marcus was trying for a carpenter’s apprentice this time — but even my presence didn’t help him get it. The ponies in town were mostly used to him, just not enough to trust him with a job, I guess.

“Don’t despair, I’m sure you’ll find something in time,” I said, tapping him on his leg reassuringly; it was as high as I could reach.

He just grunted ambiguously in response.

We returned to the castle in defeat. I quickly fetched Spike from the kitchen, where he was roaming uselessly while watching Ruby cooking, and we spent the rest of the day playing a board game together. Big Mac paid us a short visit during the session, but vanished as soon as he saw me by the table. I suspected it was my — or my heat’s — fault.

We had a good time nonetheless.

***

I woke up the next morning feeling well-rested, but my mood was quite serious. Today wasn’t just any random day. Today I would finally get my memories back — something I thought impossible, but always wanted to do. After a quick but delicious breakfast, everypony had gathered in the hall. All of my friends were there for me — Ruby, Marcus, Starlight, Rarity, Twilight, even Spike. The time was almost noon; Zecora should be finished with the memory potion by now.

“I feel like some shepherd with all of you around,” chuckled Marcus, towering in the middle of our small herd. I deliberately stepped on his toe for that. “Ouch.”

Pinkie Pie stumbled through the doors right before we left. I looked at her in confusion, wondering why she had come. I hardly considered her as my friend — after all, I barely knew the pony. Though the way she acted would make anypony think that we were some old pals.

“I’m so, so happy you’re going to get your memories back, Sundae!” she said, crushing me in a powerful hug.

“Thanks, I guess,” I wheezed out.

After that we went straight to Zecora without any more delays.

The zebra was already waiting for us near her hut. She arched her eyebrows for a moment, seeing such a large crowd, and waved to us in greeting. Her small house wouldn’t hold everypony, so she brought the potion outside. I watched the tiny bottle in her hoof nervously as she approached me. She offered it to me and I grabbed it in my magic with great care — it would be ridiculous to just spill it after all the trouble.

I wondered about what would happen if I drank it. What if I became a totally different pony? What if the potion didn’t work at all? It would be devastating for me — I had accepted the idea that I’d never remember my past, but now that I held the potion before me, I wanted my memories back more than ever. I realized that I had gotten lost in thoughts just gazing at the bottle when Ruby nudged me in my side.

Whatever happened, I had my friends to support me.

With this last thought, I drank the potion in one decisive move. I shut my eyes, mentally preparing for a stream of memories to hit me, but nothing happened. I opened them up again to see my friends around me, watching with their big hopeful eyes. I shook my head in disappointment; tears welling up in my eyes.

It seemed like the potion had failed.

Ruby was the first pony to approach me.

“I’m so sorry…” she said. Our eyes met and it finally hit me.

***

My first week at the College. I was trotting on the familiar path to the classroom when I saw two young mares, chatting pleasantly. My ears went flat against my head on their own. One of them noticed me and alerted her friend.

“Look, it’s Dumbdae!” she said with a sneer.

I grimaced and tried to sneak past them, but stumbled on an outstretched hoof and lost my balance. I fell face down, hitting my chin upon a hard floor. A mocking laughter rang in my ears and I hurried to get back on my hooves. Those two had been mean to me since I had started College, but they had never hurt me physically before. I didn’t want to escalate the conflict, so I slowly backed out.

My saddlebag was suddenly lurched off of my back, lifting me in the air before the belt ripped, and flew to the sneering unicorn mare.

“I like your bag, Dumbdae,” she said, examining it closely. “I think I’ll keep it.”

Having said that, she emptied its content on the floor. I silently watched how my books fell out, breathing heavily on the verge of tears.

“Give it back!” I yelled, leaping at her.

She simply tossed my bag to her pegasus friend, who hovered above and waved it just out of my reach. I followed it with my eyes and attempted to use my own magic to grab it, but the mare flicked my horn, breaking my concentration. I hissed from the annoying tingling that it had caused.

The pegasus was suddenly tackled to the ground by an azure earth pony. They hit the ground with her on the top, knocking the air out of the pegasus. The azure mare got up, holding my bag in her mouth, and passed it to me, while the bully unicorn rushed to check on her fallen friend.

“Get out of here or you’ll have to deal with me,” my savior growled and watched them in contempt as they scrambled away in defeat.

The mare turned to me with a gentle smile and I looked into her sky-colored eyes:
“My name is Blue Ruby, but everypony just calls me Ruby. Nice to meet you.”

***

“Sundae, are you okay?” Ruby shook me violently, bringing me back from my trance. “You have those weird white eyes right now. Oh, they’re gone.”

It took me a moment to process the information and realize its meaning and when I did, I grinned at her happily.

“I remember you now.”

Ruby froze for a moment and a smile grew on her face. She jumped at me with a squeal and hugged me, almost dropping me to the ground in her enthusiasm.

“Yay!” Pinkie exclaimed in jubilation. A bunch of confetti shot in my face on me out of nowhere. “This calls for a party!”

“Do you remember everything now?” Ruby asked, backing off from me; her tail wiggling like a happy dog.

“Well, yes, I think so…” I said, reflecting on what had just happened. “I mean, I remember you now, but when I try to remember anything else my head still hurts.”

“You may need a trigger to help your memories to return,” Twilight suggested. “Ruby was one of them, but it can be many other things — a familiar face, place, even a book.”

I ignored Spike muttering something like it’s always a book with you, and turned to face the princess, hoping that seeing her would trigger more memories. Nothing happened. I pouted in disappointment.

“Oh, I can’t be it. I wasn’t even a princess back then,” said Twilight. “But that’s a great start! Your memories are returning and I think it’s for the best that they didn’t come back all at once. That way you can process them safely instead of getting buried under them.”

“I guess,” I sighed.

I wanted to return to the castle — I had to discuss so much with Ruby right now, like talking about our past, but Pinkie insisted on having a party and I succumbed to her wishes. In my defense, it was nigh impossible to resist her energetic persuading. All of us, including Zecora, went to Sugarcube Corner, the place where Pinkie Pie worked.

Seeing Ponyville didn’t bring back any more memories, though I wasn’t really expecting it. I had probably never been to the town back in the days, so there was simply nothing to remember. Pinkie hopped in front of us and soon we were at Sugarcube Corner.

It was a bright and colorful bakery with a big cupcake decorating its roof; it was exactly the place I expected Pinkie to work in. I wasn’t surprised in the slightest after I learned that she lived there as well. The owners of the place — Mr. and Ms. Cake — had everything prepared for the party.

I looked at Pinkie wondering — did she organize everything beforehoof? Most likely. The tables were full with baked goods and guests were already coming in one by one. I didn’t know most of those ponies, but I saw them around town sometimes. All of Twilight’s best friends were also here.

“So did it work?” a cyan pegasus, Rainbow Dash, swooped at us as we came in.

“Of course it did,” Pinkie Pie answered for me. “That’s why we’re having the party, silly.”

“Yeah,” I confirmed with a nod. “I don’t remember everything yet, but I’m starting to.”

The party lasted for many hours and everypony had a lot of fun. It took my mind off the troubles and I could finally relax. I played a lot of games and talked with a lot of different ponies, getting to know them a little bit better. Rainbow Dash zapped under the ceiling like a mad fly at Pinkie, who just rolled out a barrel of cider. Her excitement slightly diminished when she learned it wasn’t of Applejack’s making, but for me who had never tried Applejack’s stuff it tasted divine. The food was amazing too — Pinkie proudly told me that she had baked most of the dishes herself the night before the party.

At some point, I met a nice green unicorn with a lyre on her flank. Her name actually was Lyra and she had a very close friend named Bon Bon. We all shared a drink together and promised to meet sometime after the party. They reminded me of myself and Ruby a little.

Then it was time to dance. I had no idea how to dance as a pony, but my judgment vanished after the third cup of cider, so I agreed for Ruby to show me the moves. I spectacularly failed, obviously, but at least it was funny and made everypony laugh, with me being the first to join them.

Marcus was having a good time as well. After having a few cups of cider himself, he wasn’t dancing, but it made him more relaxed and he freely mingled among the ponies — I hoped it made most of them realize that he was a good guy and an interesting person, not just an exotic specimen.

But as good as the party was, it was finally coming to an end. The guests started to leave and soon it was just me and my friends.

“What are you planning to do now?” Starlight asked, taking a bite from a cupcake.

“I was thinking…” I said slowly. “Twilight told me that my mind needs a trigger to remember things. Maybe I should go to the places I’ve been to before, meet the ponies I used to know and such.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Sunny,” Ruby suddenly hit me in the shoulder. I looked at her with a frown, rubbing my hurt foreleg. “The Doctor must be pretty mad after what happened in Manehattan. You should stay here in Ponyville under the Princess’s protection until he and his organization are destroyed.”

“I agree with her, Sundae,” nodded Twilight. “My guards are coming to Ponyville tomorrow; nopony would dare to touch you here.”

Marcus walked up closer and sat on the floor to be on the same level as me. Or maybe it was just difficult to stand after all the cider, who knows.

“I’ll go with you if you decide to go! I still have the rifle — if somebody comes for you, they’ll regret it.”

“I say we go to them!” Rainbow Dash declared, suddenly swooping at the innocent chair like it was the enemy. “We’ve dealt with monsters much worse than that pony.”

“The CSS will take care of him, Dash,” Twilight reprimanded her, frowning at the broken piece of furniture. “Let’s allow the professionals to do their job for once.”

“Well, I’m not in any rush,” I shrugged. Maybe it was for the best to stay in Ponyville for now. “I don’t have any money anyway, so I can’t exactly go wherever I want.”

“I can help you with that little issue, darling,” Rarity smiled. I glanced at her questioningly. “I need somepony to help me in my boutique. I am often busy with dresses and simply don’t have time to deal with the clients.”

“That’s a great idea, thank you!” I said, elated. In fact, her offer made me so happy that I rushed at her to give her a powerful hug. I had no idea how we ended up falling on the floor instead. Anyway, I had experience working at a store and even though it wasn’t my favorite job, that way I would finally get some bits and be able to pay for myself.

If only all of my problems were solved that easily…

***

A large pegasus stallion followed me like a tail as I trotted through Ponyville. It was Twilight’s fault — she thought it was too dangerous for me to be alone, so she had assigned one of her new guards to protect me at all times, since the Doctor and his organization were still at large. The guard’s name was Sturdy Peak. I glanced back at him — his sapphire coat gleamed under the morning sun, but his shortcut mane was almost nonexistent.

At first, being followed everywhere made me nervous, but I got used to it with time, especially after I convinced her to let the stallion take off his armor; I was getting too much unwanted attention otherwise.

“Aren’t you bored of being a guard?” I asked him, slowing down to walk side by side with him.

“No, miss,” answered the stallion.

He still called me miss even though I had told him a million times to use just my name.

“Fine, private,” I sighed in exasperation. “Have it your way.”

We walked the rest of the way to the boutique in silence. Rarity had kept her promise and had hired me as her assistant. My job didn’t involve working with the dresses; instead, I did more simple tasks like selling the dresses that were already done, taking new orders and such, freeing Rarity to create without interruptions. She paid me well and I had a lot of free time between the clients, which I used to read books about magic.

Since I had drunk the potion a month ago, I had remembered a lot of new stuff — technically old stuff for me — and reading was one of them. It sped up my learning of magic considerably, though I still had to learn most of it. It turns out I hadn’t been a very advanced magic user in the past and my magic knowledge was pretty limited. As of now, I already knew more than I had forgotten.

Starlight still helped me, of course. She explained the parts I had problems with and helped me practice the new and old spells in my free time after work. For example, my shield spell was impenetrable for Ruby’s attacks now even though she tried very hard to punch through.

We were going to practice something special after work and I couldn’t wait for the end of my shift. As luck would have it, today’s shift had been incredibly boring. Almost no clients visited the shop and Rarity was pretty busy with a complicated order, so I spent almost all of it rereading the theory of the spell I was going to try.

Sturdy Peak mulled about the hall melancholically, gazing on the displayed dresses. It annoyed me somehow. I would guess he was bored, though I knew he would never admit it.

“Hey, Peak,” I called out to the pegasus. “Why don’t you go take a fly?”

“Can’t do it, miss,” he said, throwing me a glance.

I fumed on the inside, but kept a calm face and even managed a smile. I had long suspected that the guard called me miss specifically to annoy me, but I could never prove it. Not that there was anything wrong with being called a miss, of course. I just hated it when he did it. I forced myself to ignore Peak and returned to reading.

Good thing my shift was coming to an end.

I threw glances at the clock and as soon as it showed me the right time, I rushed to Rarity’s studio to warn her I was leaving; the guard hovering one step behind. The room was brightly lit inside and the mare was sewing something on her machine, not noticing my arrival. I took a moment to appreciate the unfinished dress on the ponnequin and cleared my throat to let her know I was there.

“Ah, you’re here,” Rarity turned to face me, looking at me through her neat red-framed glasses. “Is it so late already?”

“Yep,” I nodded with a grin. “Time for me to go.”

“I see you’re in quite a good mood.”

“I can’t wait to try the new spell!” I shared the source of my excitement. “You can’t imagine how long I’ve been waiting to try it.”

“Good luck to you, darling,” smiled Rarity and sighed tiredly. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I shall return to work. This order is quite complicated and I must finish it by tomorrow.”

Maybe I would offer my help at any other time, but I just couldn’t suffer any more delays today. Rarity was a professional and she wouldn’t have taken the order if she was unable to finish it, so after a quick goodbye, I galloped out of the store.

I noticed the filly standing on my way in the last possible moment and barely had time to react, jumping over and falling to the ground like a potato sack. I got up with a moan; maybe I should find the time for a physical training along with my magical studies. I looked at the filly unicorn to make sure she was alright. She appeared unharmed, just startled by my sudden appearance.

“Why are you running like crazy, Sundae?” the filly whom I knew as Sweetie Belle asked. “Is my sister giving you too much work?”

“No, I’m just so excited,” I smiled at the filly sheepishly. “Sorry for almost knocking into you.”

“It’s okay. Why are you so excited?”

I explained to Sweetie why I was in such a rush and she nodded in understanding. The small unicorn looked similar to her sister Rarity in her coat color, but her mane style was different. Unlike her older sister’s curly purple hair, the filly’s two-toned mane was much lighter in shade and shorter.

She and two of her friends, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, had spent a lot of time with me this past month, trying to get me a cutie mark. It was kind of their job as they told me. Since all I did was studying magic, they thought it was my special talent. But whatever we did, the stubborn mark just wouldn’t appear.

“Can the girls and I go with you?” asked Sweetie Belle.

“Sure, why not. Meet me on the hills north of Ponyville in half an hour.”

I trotted to the castle to meet Starlight, while Sweetie ran off to find her friends. The Crusaders obviously hadn’t given up on their quest to help me. Maybe Sweetie thought that by casting a really complicated spell I would finally get myself a mark. I hoped I would — it was a little embarrassing to be the only adult pony without one, though the Crusaders were obviously much more troubled by the lack of it than I was.

Two guards in full armor stood by the entrance. It had become a common sight after Twilight had formed her own branch of the Royal Guard, which currently comprised a dozen ponies. Their purple armor was enchanted to give them a similar white coat color, so I couldn’t tell them apart when they wore it. I gave them a small nod and waved to Starlight, who just walked out.

“Hello, Sundae,” she waved to me in return, approaching me. “You haven’t changed your mind, have you?”

“Nope.”

Starlight was reluctant to let me try the new spell, thinking it was too risky for me yet, but I told her that I would do it with or without her help, leaving her no choice but to agree. I wasn’t totally insane, of course, and made sure my magic level was up to the task. The problem was with casting the spell itself without it going haywire, but I was confident in my abilities.

“Fine…” the unicorn sighed. “If you think you can do it, who am I to argue? Celestia knows I’ve done far more risky spells on my own.”

“It’s lucky I’ve got you to help then.”

Starlight chuckled as we trotted together to our chosen destination; Sturdy Shield silently hovering behind. The hills north of Ponyville were completely boring and nopony usually went to that place — even the grass was feeble and pale out there. For that exact reason, it was the perfect training ground for my magic, especially after Twilight had barred me from doing it in the castle.

In retrospect, it had been a bad idea to practice offensive spells in the library…

My attention was on other ponies’ flanks as we moved through the town. It wasn’t anything related to the heat — another wave had just ended a few days ago. I was just examining their cutie marks and trying to guess their meaning to pass the time. I guess I’d acquired that habit from the Crusaders. I nodded to Lyra as we passed her, glancing at the golden lyre on her flank. It was an easy one: I had seen her play an actual lyre before, producing an amazing tune.

But not every mark was so straightforward.

I barely avoided Derpy, a gray blond pegasus, who almost stumbled into me while madly racing somewhere. She threw me a quick sorry with a sheepish smile and continued on her way, while I examined her bubbles, wondering what they meant. She was a mailpony and had a clumsy reputation in town, but I had no idea how bubbles related to any of that.

We were on the north edge of Ponyville when a strange pony suddenly caught my attention. I lifted my eyebrows at a pegasus I had never seen before who stood leaning on the wall and watched us with his narrowed eyes. But what truly dazed me – he had no cutie mark on his flank!

After being noticed, the pegasus stepped away from the wall and blocked our path. I took a nervous step back; the previous assassination attempt was too fresh in my mind. Sturdy Peak landed in front of me immediately, readying his sword, but the pony ignored him, staring at Starlight instead. I shifted uncomfortably from the intensity of the hatred I saw in his eyes.

“Can I help you?” Starlight asked, keeping her voice level.

The pegasus just snarled instead of answering and advanced on her menacingly until Sturdy Peak put a sword’s blade in his way. That made him freeze in his tracks.

“Stop hiding behind the others, bitch,” he demanded, addressing Starlight. She flattened her ears at such hostility, looking hurt for a moment, but then frowned.

“Who are you?”

“So you don’t even remember me…” the pegasus flapped his wings in dismay.

Judging by his behavior, he hadn’t been sent by the Doctor. This rude pony was obviously preoccupied with Starlight rather than me, though it wasn’t much of a relief. The pony looked insane enough with his unkempt gray coat and disheveled mane and might be pretty dangerous, even though he had no visible weapons on him.

“Leave us alone,” I said, having little hope that he would actually listen.

The pegasus focused his mad stare on me instead and I felt shivers on my back. He stared silently for a few seconds and suddenly gasped; his eyes going wide.

“She did it to you too!” he yelled, pointing at my flank. I glanced at it curiously — it was blank as always.

“Are you talking about my cutie mark? It’s a long story, but Starlight had nothing to do with it.”

I heard Starlight gasp in recognition and saw her face change into a mask of horror.

“Skychaser, is that you?!”

“What kind of leader are you if you don’t recognize your loyal supporters?”

Starlight twitched at that, like his statement had wounded her. She lowered her head, looking down in shame.

“I was a terrible leader…That’s why I left the village. I’m trying to learn from my mistakes.”

“I don’t give a damn about that!” he screamed, stomping his hoof. “Just give me back my cutie mark.”

Starlight looked up at him in surprise and her eyes went wide when she finally noticed his blank flank. She stared at it for a few seconds with an open mouth. I didn’t get her reaction at first, but then I remembered her past and the angry pegasus’ words and it all connected in my head. Back when Starlight had ruled a village, she had taken away everypony’s cutie marks, but when Twilight and her friends overthrew her, the ponies got their marks back.

It seemed like not all of them did.

“Look, it’s not so bad if you don’t have a cutie mark,” I said, hoping to calm him. “I don’t have one either as you can see and it’s fine.”

“You don’t understand,” Skychaser glared at me madly. “I’ve lost everything after she ran off. I can’t return to my normal life without a cutie mark.”

“I don’t get it,” Starlight frowned. “Everypony got their marks back when the Vault was destroyed. What happened to you?”

“It’s your fault,” he said, pointing an accusatory hoof at her. “Now make it come back!”

I was a calm pony usually and it was hard to make me angry, but this pony had managed that by acting so rude to my friend. It had to stop now. I walked up to stand before him and looked him straight in the eyes, trying to appear stern.

“Listen, pony. If you want help, you should just ask for it.”

“Asking for help is what got me into her crazy cult the first time!” exclaimed Skychaser. “Give me my cutie mark back or you’ll regret it.”

“I’m sorry, Skychaser,” Starlight shook her head. “I don’t know what went wrong, but—”

Skychaser didn’t wait for her to finish. Instead, he shoved me to the side with his surprisingly strong wing and lunged at Starlight with a snarl on his face. The guard reacted promptly and put him out cold with a blow to the head. The pegasus fell to the ground, while my brain was still trying to catch up. It had all happened so fast…

“Why in Tartarus did you do that?” Starlight scolded the guard in anger. “I would have stopped him without hurting him. He had suffered enough because of me as it is…”

“Just doing my job,” shrugged Sturdy Peak.

Starlight ignored him and examined the fallen Skychaser. She sighed in relief a few seconds later.

“He’s fine, just unconscious,” she told me and lowered her eyes. “I know you really wanted try out the new spell, but I should get this pony to the castle now. I don’t know why he didn’t get his cutie mark back the same way as the others, but I intend to find out.”

I drooped my ears, but nodded. Even though I had wanted to cast that spell for a while, it could wait a bit more; helping the troubled pony was much more important. I just hoped the Crusaders wouldn’t be too upset when I didn’t show up as I promised.

Starlight made Sturdy Peak carry Skychaser on his back and we made our way back to the castle, getting a few weird glances along the way. She explained to me that the pegasus was one of the ponies who had lived in her village back when she had been obsessed with the idea of equality, though I already understood as much. Starlight used to store the ponies’ cutie marks in the Vault, but when Twilight and her friends broke it, all the marks were returned except for his apparently.

“It’s possible to get a new cutie mark if you’ve lost your old one, right?”

“I hope so,” answered Starlight.

“Well, I’ve been trying to get a cutie mark for a whole month and nothing. Even the Crusaders think it’s weird.”

Starlight fell deep into thought after my words and I wondered what would happen if I never got a cutie mark. My old one was probably lost permanently because of the damn Mirror and maybe something like that had happened to Skychaser. I was managing pretty well without one, but that was because I had spent years living as a human. Skychaser didn’t have that advantage.

“What if there is something preventing a pony from getting a second mark, even if the first one is no longer there?” Starlight theorized.

I shrugged. It could explain why even the Crusaders had failed with me so far.

“We should ask Twilight.”

***

We put the still unconscious Skychaser under guard and gathered in the Throne Room.

“This is a great theory,” Twilight said in excitement after Starlight explained her idea. “I used to read a lot of books on cutie marks and there is no case of getting more than one mark. Well, except that one event with Apple Bloom a while back when she got sick with the Cutie Pox. But it only proves some magical lock must exist, preventing you from getting more than one mark.”

“That and the fact that ponies usually have only one special talent, so there would be no need for a second mark,” Starlight added.

I sighed. It meant that the Crusaders had been blaming themselves for nothing. No matter what we tried, I simply wouldn’t get a cutie mark because I’d already had one and lost it…

“Don’t worry, Sundae,” Twilight said, noticing my shifted mood, “I’m going to examine your and Skychaser’s magical fields. Maybe I can even find that lock and temporarily remove it. If that’s the problem, then both of you would get a cutie mark in no time, since you already know what your special talent is supposed to be.”

I nodded reluctantly. It’s true, Ruby had told me what my old cutie mark used to look like and how I’d gotten it, though I couldn’t remember it myself yet. An old vase that used to be on my flank represented my interest in archaeology. The problem was — I wasn’t sure it still remained my special talent. Living as a human had changed me.

“No time to waste then!” Twilight said in a ringing voice. “I’ve never done this before; this would need some special preparation. I’m going to need some amplifier arrays to be able to look at your aura closely…The usual ones won’t do, I should—”

Twilight disappeared from her chair in a flash of light in the middle of her sentence. Starlight rolled her eyes and mumbled something under her muzzle. I just shrugged — it was typical of Twilight to teleport without explanation when she got some new idea she wanted to test. All we had to do now was to wait. Wait…

“The Crusaders!” I exclaimed suddenly; Starlight looked at me in surprise. “I mean, the Crusaders are still probably waiting for us in the hills. I should go and tell them there won’t be any spellcasting today.”

“You stay here, I go. Twilight can return any minute.”

Starlight left, leaving me alone. I agreed that would be for the best — it would be bad to make the princess wait too. I was slightly annoyed at Twilight though; she could at least have told us what she was going to do. Maybe I would even be able to help. My magical knowledge was far from her level, but I’d learned a lot during this month.

The door squeaked open and I turned my head, hoping to see Twilight, but Marcus stood there instead. I smiled at him anyway and he nodded in return.

“Sturdy told me some psycho attacked you and Starlight,” my friend said, holding a hand on the hilt of his new sword.

“It wasn’t that bad,” I shrugged. “The poor pony just wanted revenge.”

“Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds?” he snorted and I chuckled involuntarily.

“I mean, he lost his cutie mark because of Starlight and told her to give it back. She couldn’t do that for him, so he got mad and kind of jumped on us. That’s when your friend bumped him in the head.”

“That tattoo seems really important to you ponies,” Marcus said.

I shrugged again. I wasn’t in the mood to explain the whole importance of cutie marks to ponies, so I left that matter alone for now. Instead, we did a bit of catching up. Sadly, we’d been a little out of touch lately with all of my studying and his training, but I was happy that he’d finally had something to do at least, besides wandering about the town.

“So, have you decided to join fully yet?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” he sighed and looked me in the eyes. “I would have to give a vow to join Twilight’s Guard and that’s a pretty serious commitment.”

Twilight made a position especially for him as the first human guard, but he had yet to accept it. Although he had already become buddies with the other guards in the Castle, so I thought it was only a matter of time. He was basically an unofficial member of the Guard, carrying a blade with him all the time and sparring with his new friend Sturdy Peak. With Marcus being so much bigger than ponies, he was a formidable fighter, despite lacking in sword skills. I put a hoof on his hand to show my support and he nodded gratefully.

Touching his soft hand with the base of my hoof was a little weird. I wondered how he could use it at all, especially with all of those icky numerous fingers…It felt so fragile compared to my hoof; I would probably break it if I pressed too hard. I shuddered at those uncomfortable thoughts. It was hard to imagine that I used to have the same hands a little more than a month ago.

We were interrupted by a loud pop and something heavy suddenly fell on me a moment later. I yelped in fright and bucked instinctively, throwing my hindquarters upright. To my surprise, Twilight landed on the table in front of me. She laid on her back and looked at me with her large eyes, dumbfounded, and I stared back.

“Why were you sitting on my throne?”

I blushed and looked to the side, realizing that Twilight must have teleported to the same place from where she had previously disappeared, not knowing I was already occupying that space. Twilight quickly flipped back on her feet and jumped off the table, levitating a small sack off the floor that hadn’t been there before. Marcus coughed to hide his laughter and put the sword that he had drawn back in his sheath.

“Anyway, I’ve brought some supplies!” Twilight said, ignoring the little accident. “I have an array ready. I’ve made some modifications to it, so it would allow me to see your magical field very clearly.”

Having said that, Twilight left the room, through the doors this time. Marcus and I exchanged a glance and we quickly followed her. After a short walk through the corridors, we arrived in the castle’s big library. I liked this place with its rows and rows of books. There was even a fiction section, the genre I loved the most. I often came here to read, with Twilight keeping me company.

Twilight stopped in the center of the room and started to draw a big scheme on the floor, using the supplies she’d brought. Marcus and I just stood to the side and watched her work silently, not daring to interrupt. At some point the Crusaders burst in with Starlight in their wake, but Twilight just shushed them and they joined us in quiet waiting.

“So is Twilight really going to cure you from whatever is not letting you get a mark?” Apple Bloom, one of the Crusader fillies, asked. She was Applejack’s and Big Mac’s little sister and an earth pony like them.

I nodded to her without turning my attention off of Twilight’s work. She used her magic to draw an array with three chalks at once, moving them in perfect harmony with each other. I was slightly jealous — I was able to move one object with enough precision, but Twilight was a whole level above. I reminded myself of the fact that a month ago I could barely lift a spoon.

“I knew there was something wrong with you,” said Scootaloo, another member of the Crusaders, a brown pegasus.

The other fillies gave her a stare and she blushed.

“I didn’t mean it like in a bad way!” the filly hastened to explain herself. “I just thought it was weird that you were not getting your mark even though we’d been so sure you would. I was starting to think there was something wrong with us…”

I chuckled and rubbed her mane with affection. “I get it, don’t worry. I myself suspected that something had to be wrong.”

Soon Twilight was done. The array looked pretty complicated and took up a large chunk of the floor. It consisted of two circles and a lot of runes and lines. I had no idea what most of it was supposed to do, except for the mana crystals, which were arranged around it, so that the caster would be able to draw energy from them. I had read about those things in a book. They were recommended to use in any advanced arrays in case the unicorn overestimated their own abilities and ran out of mana.

“Please, stand in the center of that circle and relax,” said Twilight, showing me to the smaller one. “I’ll begin when you’re ready.”

I did as instructed. Standing there, I was reminded of movies about exorcisms or summoning demons, but Twilight wasn’t planning to do something like that, was she? I gulped and tried to relax as Twilight had told me, dismissing the silly thoughts out of my mind. When I felt calm enough, I gave her a nod and she began.

Twilight’s horn glowed as well as the lines of the array around me. She opened her eyes, but instead of pupils they too glowed with a white light. I shuddered from her spooky stare — that must be how my eyes had looked after I had drunk the memory potion. I turned my gaze away from her and to my group of friends standing behind her. They gave me some supporting smiles and Marcus showed a thumbs up.

Suddenly a weird tingling sensation started to bother me from all around my body. It felt like somepony was prickling tiny needles into my skin. It was probably a part of Twilight’s examination, so I stoically endured it until a sharp pain from everywhere at once struck my body. I yelped and almost fell, but the pain was over the next second without any trace. Gradually, the array lost its glow and Twilight’s eyes returned back to normal.

“I think I did it,” a large grin appeared on her face.

We all gathered around her and she explained us what exactly she did. The array gave her an ability to look at the magical field within me in great detail. It was something similar in effect to an x-ray. Twilight’s modified array allowed her to discover a specific part of the field in charge of cutie marks, something that apparently hadn’t been done before, and fix the distortion she found in it. That was the surge of pain I felt in the end.

All of that meant that now, in theory at least, I would be able to get a cutie mark.

“Now we can get you a cutie mark!” the Crusaders exclaimed together as one.

***

I wasn’t able to resist their renewed enthusiasm even if I wanted to. We decided to try our very first idea for getting a cutie mark, which hadn’t worked back then — cast some complicated magic spell to prove it was my special talent. And what a funny coincidence it was that I had planned to cast my most complicated spell so far just earlier today!

Before we all went to the hills and tried to put that theory into practice, Twilight and I paid a visit to Skychaser, still being locked up under guard. The pegasus was conscious already and threw us a murderous stare as soon as we entered the room. His eyes grew wide when he recognized the princess.

“Your highness!” he jumped on his hooves. “What are you doing here?”

“You’re in my castle,” Twilight pointed out coldly. “You were brought here after you attacked one of my friends in public.”

“Your friend?! That…Starlight is your friend?” Skychaser looked truly shocked by the revelation.

“She is. And you were one of her villagers. I understand your anger and pain, but you should know that she has reformed and truly regrets what she has done to you and the others.”

“She may have fooled you, Princess, but I’ve seen her for who she really is,” Skychaser said with conviction. “She’s a liar. Her lies brought me into her cult and her lies will bring you to your doom.”

Twilight kept a calm expression on her face, but I saw in her tense posture and slightly lowered ears that his words angered her a great deal.

“Leaving that issue aside, I’ve discovered a way for you to get a cutie mark. It may not be exactly the same one as before, but it will represent your true talent nonetheless.”

She quickly explained her idea to him and what we had just done in the library – removing the magical lock. Skychaser wasn’t convinced though.

“I’ll believe it only when I see you with a cutie mark,” he said, pointing at me.

“As a matter of fact, we’re about to try something that would get me one. You can go along and watch with your own eyes,” I glanced at Twilight after I said it and she nodded slightly in confirmation.

“As long as you control yourself,” she said sternly. “The guards will be watching you and if you try to attack Starlight again, you will be officially charged with assault.”

Skychaser agreed to Twilight’s conditions and we led him to the hall, where everypony was waiting. Starlight frowned in concern upon seeing Skychaser walking among us, but Twilight assured her that situation was under control.

Three guards were escorting us as we walked through Ponyville once again, including Sturdy Peak, who was familiar to me. He and Marcus just chatted with each other, while the other two remained silent and searched our surroundings for any potential threats. No fewer than two guards followed Twilight everywhere at all times. She wanted for them to concentrate on the castle only when they had just arrived, but the captain was adamant and Twilight had to agree with his position on matters of security.

I mentally prepared myself for the spell, which had become much more important now, seeing as it could both get me a cutie mark and help Skychaser at the same time. I threw a glance at Skychaser: he was behaving himself like he’d promised and completely ignored Starlight, who trotted by my side. He didn’t look as haunted and sullen as he had before. Perhaps our words had given him some hope — that was another reason I wanted to succeed.

“Don’t worry, Sundae,” said Apple Bloom. “We’re pretty sure you’ll get your cutie mark.”

“Yeah, you just need to realize that casting spells is your special talent!” added Scootaloo.

“Casting that super-complicated spell would prove it for you,” Sweetie Belle finished.

I nodded to them gratefully. Despite all our talks and planning I still had doubts about my talent. I mean, I liked magic, but it wasn’t the only thing I liked to do. Was it truly my special talent or was there something else I hadn’t thought of yet?

We were about to find out. Our little group gathered on the top of the hill that overlooked Ponyville. It was a good spot for potentially dangerous spells — open land and far enough from pony dwellings. Everypony looked at me expectedly and I blushed a little from such big attention.

“Come on, Sundae,” Starlight said. “Remember our lessons. Concentrate on the spot in front of you and cast the spell.”

“I know, I know…” I waved to Starlight and the others to step away just in case, and closed my eyes, once again replaying in my head what I was going to do.

The spell I so desperately wanted to learn was…teleportation. I had loved it since the first time I had seen Twilight do it and I had been practicing my magic every day, dreaming about it. It was such a great concept! Teleportation was a pretty advanced spell too, but I had learned the theory perfectly — all that was left to do was to execute it.

I calmed my breath and opened my eyes again, looking at the spot in front of me while ignoring everything else. That’s where I wanted to land. It was important to know where you wanted to land; otherwise you risked ending up Celestia knows where. Though the spell wouldn’t let you appear inside of another object, you could teleport yourself up too high and fall down, breaking your bones as a result. With so many unicorns and pegasi currently around me, I wasn’t worried at that prospect right now.

Time for action. I filled my horn with magic and finally cast the spell. I heard the sparks discharge around me and all my vision disappeared for a moment. Another moment and I was rolling down the hill like a rag doll. Somepony’s magic caught me before I sustained any injuries though, and levitated me back up.

I felt completely disorientated and wondered what had happened with me. My friend’s wide grins filled me with hope, however.

“Congratulations, you did it!” Ruby tackled me while I was still being held in the air and we almost rolled off the hill again.

“I did?” I asked in amazement. Until the last moment, I wasn’t sure I would be able to pull it off.

“Yep,” Starlight’s voice confirmed from behind me. “It was definitely a teleportation spell. You’re going to need some work on precision, but for the first time it was great!”

“Did you get your cutie mark?” The Crusaders surrounded me and shooed Ruby off me.

I guessed the answer to that question by their sullen faces before I glanced at my flank — it was empty like at any other day. I pulled myself back on my hooves and sighed. At least I had done my first teleportation spell, so it wasn’t so bad… I sighed again.

“Ha, I knew this wouldn’t work,” Skychaser said, but there wasn’t any joy in his voice. It was quite the opposite, in fact.

“Shut up,” Marcus said to him simply.

“I don’t understand, I thought I had removed the lock…” Twilight mumbled to herself, approaching me and examining my flank. “What went wrong?”

“Getting a mark is more than just casting some spell,” said Sweetie Belle.

“She has to truly realize her special talent,” Scootaloo nodded sagely.

“But I am realizing it,” I stomped my hoof in agitation. “I liked magic even before I knew I was a pony. It helped me to accept who I am and I want nothing more than to be at least half as good at it as Twilight!”

As the words left my mouth, a strange warm feeling encompassed me. I felt such a clarity about what do with my life like I never had before. I would learn as much as possible about magic! Somepony levitated me off the ground; I looked at my friends, but nopony’s horn glowed to indicate the culprit. Instead, they all gazed back at me in surprise. In the next moment, I was put down.

“What was that?” I asked nopony in particular, as my friends began to smile widely for some reason.

“Look at your flank, silly!” Ruby said, grabbing my head and turning it herself.

There was an image of a white star inside of a blue gemstone proudly displayed on my thigh. I looked at it, but couldn’t believe it. It was my very own cutie mark. Some tears welled up on my eyes. Seeing it now made me realize how incomplete I had been, even though I had never realized it before this moment. Now I was fully a pony both in body and mind, the only thing missing was my memory…

A surge of pain struck my head like a lightning bolt. I grimaced and couldn’t hold back a moan.

“What’s wrong?” Ruby asked in concern.

I couldn’t answer as the pain became almost unbearable. Grasping my head in my hooves, I fell down onto the grass, moaning in pain. My friends rushed to me, though I barely saw them through my half-closed eyes. I had no idea what was happening to me, but the pain slowly faded away. When I opened my eyes fully to see the worried faces around me, something had changed inside me. I remembered now.

I remembered everything.

Part IV - Chapter 14: Shady Business

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Part IV

Chapter 14 – Shady Business

Doctor Shade paced around his office in Manehattan. The recent news didn’t please him in the slightest. His contacts in the College, where the destroyed portal mirror was being studied, had learned that Sundae, who he thought had perished all those years ago, had suddenly popped out from that other world. He should have never thrown her into that damn mirror, but who could have known it would be restored and and she would find her way back?

Even if she still didn’t remember a thing about her past, his secret empire was potentially compromised. Sundae had come in contact with Princess Twilight herself and the Princess was known for her sharp mind. She would learn who was behind Sundae’s little accident. It was only a matter of time before she started to suspect Shade himself.

As soon as Shade had learned the news, he had sent a pony, Stealth Blade, to kill Sundae before she started blabbing about his plans to the Princess, but the assassin had miserably failed and even worse — he had been captured. The assassin had no connection to Shade, of course, but during the last week he had come to regret his rash decision anyway.

After that failure, he had sent the orders to relocate his weapon stashes, which were hidden in his front company’s warehouses. He knew it was risky to store the weapons there, but it saved the trouble of finding an alternative. His organization had managed to avoid the attention of the authorities by bribing — or removing — the officials who were too nosy, but when the Princess might be involved, it was out of question.

The issue had been handled without a hitch everywhere else, but Manehattan was a large merchant city and his company’s warehouse here was the biggest in the company. It also stored a lot of illegal equipment that needed relocating. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been able to find an appropriate place in the city until the very last moment.

The bad news was that a group of Twilight’s closest friends had come to Manehattan this morning. Shade knew it wasn’t a simple coincidence. If Shade hadn’t sent an assassin, they wouldn’t have come here in the first place! At least the fools in the Celestial Security had no clue about his secret organization, as Shade’s inside source had reported so if Twilight suspected something, she hadn’t told them.

Shade had the Manehattan police chief in his pocket, so she had alerted him when Twilight’s nosy friends had asked for help. They were getting too close for his liking, so he had sent his most competent lieutenant Morning Bright to the warehouse to watch over it until morning came and the transportation of all illegal equipment could be arranged. He would make sure that everything went—

BAM

The door burst open and Morning Bright, the lieutenant in question, stepped inside. Shade looked at him incredulously for a second.

“What in Tartarus are you doing?” he bellowed at the unflinching unicorn. “You’re supposed to be guarding—”

“The warehouse has been destroyed,” Bright simply stated, cutting Shade off. He sat behind his desk with an unreadable expression and prompted his lieutenant to continue with a gesture.

“The Princesses’ friends managed to avoid the guards somehow and sneaked inside. They discovered the weapons, so I had no choice but to try and eliminate them. I failed.”

“Do you even realize what this means?” Shade furrowed his eyebrows and hit the table with a force that made the items on it bounce up. “How could you have failed?! You had five ponies with you! Weren’t you able to handle just four mares?”

Bright’s calm mask cracked for a moment and his face revealed a fury inside him, but he quickly took his emotions under control, as he always did.

“I underestimated them. When they overpowered my ponies, I escaped and razed the warehouse to the ground, so as to leave no evidence. It was better than leaving it to them.”

“I agree,” Shade nodded in disappointment. “Well, this changes our plans then. Even without the evidence, the Princess will know of our existence now. We need to accelerate the preparations before our plans are discovered.”

The Doctor sat in his chair, deep in thought, while Bright stood still, awaiting his orders. He knew better than to bother his master when he was in such a state. Finally, Shade lifted his head to look him in the eyes again.

“I’m going to Canterlot to meet with the leaders,” he said. “You will stay here and deal with the consequences of your failure.”

“As you wish, master.”

***

The next day Shade arrived in Canterlot. He had his cutie mark replaced by a drawn image of a black spider, so he wouldn’t be so easily recognized. The pony breathed the fresh mountain air with pleasure — it was his city of birth and he loved it much more than big, crowded Manehattan. Too bad there was no time to waste on sightseeing today, so he left the station in a quick canter.

He carefully monitored his surroundings as he moved through the streets, but nopony caught his trained eye. With all the recent events, however, he didn’t want to take any chances, so instead of going directly to the meeting place, he went to visit a tavern first.

The shabby stone building didn’t look very fancy. It was gloomy inside and the decorations were pretty simple. Not a lot of patrons could be found behind the tables eating and drinking. This place was known for other services than food, however, and Shade usually came here with a specific goal in mind. But not today.

The bartender flashed a false smile at Shade that fooled no one as the stallion approached.

“Mr. Spider, it’s good to see you here again!” the stallion greeted him as Shade approached. “Do you want the usual service?”

Spider was Shade’s name in the criminal underworld. He had this place under his patronage, protecting it from competitors and supplying the various potions for low prices. In return, he got a safe harbor where he and his ponies could relax for free. This place was only masquerading as a tavern, while in fact it was nothing other than a brothel.

“No, I’m just passing through today,” Shade said.

The bartender nodded in understanding.

He made Shade the gesture to follow him and led the criminal lord to the back room. The room was used as a storage, but it also had a secret tunnel, going below the whole quarter. It was known only to a number of rich and important clients, who wanted to avoid the scandal of being seen in such a questionable place. Spider knew about it too, of course.

Shade dismissed the bartender and went into the tunnel alone, illuminating his way with a torch. It was dark and wet underground, but it didn’t bother the pony in the slightest. He’d been in tunnels much more dangerous than this one while on his travels with Bright. Soon, he emerged on the surface in a small room. A lone pony had been dying from boredom there, but he jumped to his hooves at his sudden appearance. He settled back when he recognized Shade.

“Mr. Spider,” he nodded respectfully.

Shade ignored him and went outside. The only door in the room led to an abandoned alley in a poor neighborhood. It wasn’t safe for a lone traveler to be there even during the day, but Shade wasn’t afraid of any potential muggers. They would regret crossing his path if anypony was foolish enough to do so.

It wasn’t far to the meeting place from here. Shade trotted determinedly through the dirty streets as everypony cleared the way; something in his appearance made them nervous. Shade was so used to it that he almost stumbled into a group of two ponies, standing in his way in defiance. He threw them an annoyed look.

“You shouldn’t have come here, pal,” the bulky-looking mare to the left said.

“Your saddlebags look valuable,” her accomplice, a stallion pegasus, added. “Give them to me and we’ll let you go in one piece.”

Shade didn’t appear scared by their threats. Instead, he watched them in contempt, as if they were some worms under his hoof. The thugs exchanged confused looks.

“If you touch me, the Spider will make you pay,” he told them simply and the pegasus paled.

“Spider? I’m not afraid of some bug,” the mare laughed. She clearly wasn’t the bright one.

“He means the Spider, you oaf,” her accomplice whispered and the mare’s laugh changed into a heavy cough.

Shade glared at them intensely as the mare’s accomplice tugged her away, pointing at the menacing cutie mark at Shade’s flank. They both hastily disappeared from view into one of the adjacent alleys. The Spider continued on his way, pleased with himself — he certainly had quite a reputation. If his plan succeeded, he’d have even more than that.

Soon, Shade arrived at the old manor. The place had seen better days; it was owned by a lonely descendant of a bankrupt noble family. The mare who was the last member of her House was desperate to get her name and power back, so obviously she was one of the Spider’s oldest supporters. Shade had helped the pony save the manor and it was often used to hold secret meetings in relative comfort.

A couple of ponies strolled around the manor lazily, watching for anyone approaching the place. Shade walked up to them, nodding to each personally.

“Greetings, master,” both of them nodded back.

“Has anypony arrived before me?” Shade asked.

“Only Rags and Insect.”

Shade thanked the guards for the answer. Of course, those were fake names — every important pony in his organization used those, though Shade knew their real names as well. Rags and Insect were his lieutenants in Fillydelphia and Canterlot. They were aware of the true purpose of his organization, which couldn’t be said about the lower members, most of whom had no clue even about its true size.

He let the guards continue their job and entered the manor. The squeaky doors announced his arrival and the slender noblemare herself showed up to greet him. Her light pink mane and coat looked elegant and had managed to catch the eye of Fancy Pants himself. She played the role of a two-bit mare very well and had managed to extract a lot of valuable information out of him for Shade.

“Hello, Fleur,” Shade smiled to her.

“Welcome, Shade…I mean, Spider,” she quickly corrected herself after his frown.

Fleur was one of the few who knew his real identity and she had to be careful not to mention his name so carelessly. Shade’s frown quickly disappeared though, as she stroked his mane gently. The stallion smiled at the mare, who was also his lover. They didn’t spend much time together as she had to maintain her pretense romance with Fancy Pants, so Shade wouldn’t let this opportunity go to waste. They would have fun together later…

But first things first.

“I need to see Insect,” Shade told his fillyfriend, coming upstairs. “Tell him to meet me in your study.”

“Why can’t you find him yourself?” Fleur answered a little annoyed. “You know I can’t stand the pony.”

“The subordinates should come to their superior, not the other way around,” he explained to her gently.

“Fine…” she sighed and turned around to go and fetch Insect.

Shade proceeded to the room and took his place behind the large and imposing desk. However, the impression was slightly ruined by the unkempt interior of the room, but he had no time to clean up. Besides, it would be even worse if he was seen doing it by one of his lieutenants, especially the ones like Insect.

Insect arrived promptly. He was a thin, feeble-looking pegasus. The cutie-mark on his gray coat had been replaced with an image of a spider just like Shade’s. Hiding one’s cutie mark wasn’t a perfect disguise, but most ponies remembered it first, so it was pretty efficient. It was the usual procedure for high-ranking members of his organization when on business — some of them had important legal positions as well and preferred to stay anonymous.

“You called me, master?” Insect asked in his screeching voice.

“I have a job for you,” Shade began and spent the next ten minutes explaining his idea.

“It will be done,” Insect nodded. “But isn’t it too risky to do right now? I thought we wanted to complete the preparations.”

“Unforeseen events are forcing me to act now. I’ll explain everything on the meeting.”

Insect nodded again and left the room without any more questions. He had full control over Canterlot’s branch and would see the job done. It was a risky part of the plan, but it was vitally important for its success.

Shade leaned back on his chair and thought about it. For more than a decade, he had been gathering information about the place called Tartarus with only one purpose in mind — break out a certain prisoner. Tartarus was basically the most secure prison in Equestria, reserved for extra-powerful criminals.

Finding out anything about Tartarus was difficult. That damn Celestia hoarded all available information in her locked archives. The very existence of the prison had been a closely guarded secret. But he had managed to collect the necessary bits of information here and there anyway to discover its location and the way to access it.

And to do it he needed to steal the key from the Princess herself.

***

It took Insect and his group two days to finish the job. Shade received the report in the same office as before.

“It’s done, master,” Insect reported.

“You haven’t brought the target here, have you?” Shade asked carefully.

“Of course not,” his lieutenant snorted at the foolishness of such action. “It’s in the safe house.”

Shade nodded in satisfaction and allowed himself a tiny smile. Everything was going according to his plan for once. Acquiring the key of Tartarus wasn’t a simple task. Only a few trusted ponies had access to it. Threatening their loved ones was a good way to make anypony do what he demanded, and Insect’s goons had just kidnapped a dear sister of such a pony.

“I shall talk with her myself. Set up a meeting and warn her not to tell anyone if she wants to see her sister alive.”

Insect left again to do as he was told.

After the negotiations, Shade planned to finally hold a council with his lieutenants. Most of them save one had already arrived, but he was sure the last one was on his way. A lot of ponies were filling the manor now and the sight of them made the Spider proud. Each of them represented a big part of the empire that he’d built in the last five years.

While waiting for the news from Insect, he had individual meetings with a few of the most important commanders to discuss their progress. The preparations were going smoothly, though he wasn’t sure how long it would last with the CSS being on his tail now. Morning Bright had sent him a disturbing message warning about their increased activity in Manehattan.

“Why are we all here?” one of his lieutenants asked in annoyance.

“Because I summoned you,” said Shade. “I will explain everything at the meeting.”

His lieutenants were getting impatient, which was bad. The bigger his organization grew, the more arrogant they became. They didn’t dare to defy him openly yet because they all understood the importance of the plan and the great reward at the end, but as soon as it was completed… Shade shook his head — he would deal with them in time.

Soon, a messenger from Insect had arrived and led the Spider to a small cafe in the outskirts of Canterlot. This place belonged to Insect himself, so it was perfect for the negotiations. He had a means to escape from there in case of a trap.

Shade immediately noticed the gray unicorn in glasses pacing in front of the entrance nervously. She wore her usual red bowtie. He had never met Raven Inkwell personally before, but he knew everything about her as he he had been planning this particular course of action for a while.

“Ms. Inkwell, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Shade said with a thin smile, approaching her.

Inkwell turned her head sharply to face Shade. Her eyes pierced him, but she did not recognize him under the disguise of the Spider. He wasn’t a public pony anyway, so it was unlikely he would be recognized even with his cutie mark for all to see.

“You’re the scum who took my sister,” she spit with contempt.

The messenger frowned, but Shade just chuckled at her badmouthing. He knew it was nothing but an attempt to hide her fear – the Spider had Inkwell in his full power. They proceeded inside the cafe and took the table in the corner, far from any random ears. The henchpony remained by the door, watching the surroundings.

“I want you to release my sister at once,” Inkwell demanded as soon as they sat down.

“I’m sure you understand I can’t do it…yet,” the Spider said. “I hope you haven’t mentioned any of this to Celestia?”

Raven Inkwell was the Princesses’ personal assistant, which was why Shade had picked her to achieve his goal. It was risky and he had wanted to do it when the preparations were fully ready, but Sundae’s unfortunate return had put a wrench in his plans, forcing him to act early.

“I haven’t…yet,” Inkwell answered. “What do you want from me? Money?”

“Oh no, not money,” Shade shook his head, amused. “It’s your unique position that interests me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Celestia has something I need and you are going to steal it for me.”

Shade explained to the unicorn what was needed of her and she was aghast at the end of his speech.

“It’s…It’s high treason,” she accused him, lowering her ears.

“And you will commit it, unless you want to get your sister back in pieces,” Shade stated coldly.

Raven nodded almost against her will, having agreed to do her part. Shade hoped that her love for her sister would outweigh her loyalty to the Princess. He didn’t like to have ponies killed unless it was absolutely necessary. He wouldn’t have to eliminate them if his ultimate plan succeeded — it wouldn’t matter anymore.

Her life was basically in Raven’s own hooves.

***

Shade had a nice dinner at the cafe before returning to the manor. The last of his lieutenants had finally arrived, so it was time to have a council. He gave a word to Fleur and she summoned everypony to the big dining room with a large table in the center. There were no snacks waiting on it — Shade wanted his subordinates to concentrate on business first.

Time for feasts would come later.

“Welcome,” Shade greeted everyone, sitting at the head of the table.

He got some random mumbling in response and a few raised forelegs. The whole table was filled with different ponies from all over the country. They never met each other personally, except for important meetings like this one, and knew each other only by their nicknames. It was beneficial for the Spider, as it prevented them from potentially uniting against his leadership. He knew that not everypony fully agreed with his vision.

“As you have probably guessed, our organization is under the threat of being discovered.”

His revelation provoked a heated discussion among his lieutenants — clearly not all of them had guessed it and now were in a state of near panic. Shade huffed in annoyance and stomped his foreleg loudly on the table to get their attention back.

“It just means that we have to act earlier than planned,” he continued as silence settled in the room. “I’ve already taken measures to acquire the key to Tartarus and all of you should prepare your forces to strike.”

“Why do we need Tartarus at all? We have enough power to overthrow Celestia without it,” one of the younger and hotheaded lieutenants said.

Some supportive noises sounded all over the table — as far as the Spider could judge, no less than a third of the ponies agreed with the wild statement. Shade took note of the lieutenant’s name for the future. It would seem he needed to look for a smarter successor to that pony.

“Don’t fool yourself, boy,” he said, staring down the young subordinate. “There are four alicorn princesses in Equestria. We can’t face them without powerful allies of our own.”

Gladly, most of his lieutenants supported his conclusion. They knew he had such an ally in Tartarus. No one except him knew who it was, however. Shade had been in contact with this powerful entity for decades and it was her who had prompted him to research Tartarus to free her from that prison. Of course, freeing the entity was only the first stage of his plan.

The second stage was taking over Equestria.

The rest of the meeting went in a constructive manner. The preparations were going better than the Spider had expected. He had enough resources now to support a small army and that was exactly what was being done. His forces had been trained and equipped in secret and soon would in the position to strike in every important city. It would be enough to take the Guard by surprise and destroy it, as it wasn’t very numerous. The long peace had made Equestria militarily weak.

“All of you should await my signal,” said the Spider in conclusion. “Soon, we will rule this country!”

Everypony roared enthusiastically in support. Their spirit had been greatly improved compared to the beginning of the meeting and Shade allowed himself a smile of satisfaction. Fleur, who was sitting close to him, patted his back; she was beaming from happiness as well.

The mare leaned to his ear and whispered, “Let’s go upstairs and celebrate in private.”

Shade eagerly agreed to her proposition; it would be good to relax after dealing with all of that criminal scum. Fleur was not like them; she was one of his oldest and true supporters. The servants filled the room, bringing food and drinks for his lieutenants, but he had already left to satisfy another kind of hunger.

***

The next few weeks were completely uneventful. All the necessary orders had already been given and all that was left to do was wait. Shade had returned to managing his official company for the time being. He was getting slightly paranoid, even though there was no evidence of the CSS getting any closer to revealing his plans, despite their efforts.

On top of that, Inkwell had been unable to steal the key yet. There was one silver lining in the fact that she had made a copy of some very important documents about Tartarus, which shed light on the dark spots in the Doctor’s knowledge. He now had proof that “Lord” Tirek had been locked there. He quickly dismissed his idea about releasing the fellow — he had proved too dangerous and uncontrollable.

Shade sat in his chair and re-read the documents again. He discovered an interesting fact — Tirek’s ability to access Tartarus without even needing the key. The beast had apparently locked the princesses in his own cage, without needing to travel all the way to the gate itself. It may prove useful to learn his secret, since they would be there anyway. As far as Shade knew, only Starswirl, the original creator of Tartarus, had such an ability. Even Celestia couldn’t do it…

What was taking Inkwell so long?! He felt like the mare needed some encouragement.

He sent a message to Insect to bring Inkwell to the safe house where her sister was held. Even the Spider himself didn’t know the house’s location, so he had to wait for a messenger to escort him. He met the pony at Insect’s cafe and they reached the house from there. It turned out to be in the poor neighborhood, just as Shade had expected.

Inkwell was already there, being escorted by two thugs and blindfolded. She didn’t look comfortable at all, shuddering slightly with her ears flat against her head. It was a good start — Insect knew his business well. If you needed to scare the life out of somepony, Insect would be your first choice.

“Take it off,” Shade ordered the thugs and they removed the blindfold.

“Why am I here again?” Inkwell asked him with a trembling voice.

It wasn’t the first time she’d been in the house. He’d had to show Inkwell that her sister was alive and well before she agreed to do anything.

“I’m displeased by your delay, Inkwell,” Shade said to her, staring right in her eyes. She visibly gulped. “I’m going to show you what will happen if you delay any longer.”

“If you do anything to my sister…” the mare began, but Shade interrupted her with a raised hoof.

“She will be fine…mostly.”

Inkwell paled at the distinct threat in Shade’s voice. He didn’t waste any more time and led her to the room where her sister was being held, and Insect was waiting for them. Two thugs followed them, watching the mare in case she tried to pull some trick.

“Hello, master,” Insect greeted him with a grin that gave even the Spider the creeps.

He was standing behind an earth pony mare, who looked very similar to Inkwell herself. Inkwell wanted to rush to her, but was stopped by the two thugs. The two sisters were almost indistinguishable save for belonging to different races. The mare was blindfolded and tied up to a chair, but visibly unharmed. Her ears swiveled to the sound of the new arrivals, but she couldn’t say anything as her mouth was gagged.

“It’s me, sis!” Inkwell yelled at her.

The bounded mare perked up and turned her head at her sister’s voice. Inkwell’s voice was filled with worry and not without a reason. When she had visited her sister the first time, she hadn’t been tied up like that and there wasn’t a creepy pegasus behind her back. The Spider didn’t enjoy what was about to happen like Insect; it was a grim necessity for him.

“Now your sister will suffer the consequences of your delay,” Shade told Inkwell.

He nodded to the eagerly awaiting Insect, who was revealed to be holding a large knife.

The pegasus began his work immediately. He bit on Inkwell’s sister’s ear to hold it in place and cut it off with one swift movement. Shade cringed slightly, while Inkwell stared in shock at the horrible picture. The poor mare struggled wildly, but the ropes were holding; Shade could hear her muffled screams. The next moment Inkwell’s horror turned into rage.

“What the buck are you doing?!” she yelled. She would have attacked Shade if not for the two thugs beside her.

“This is just a warning,” Shade said calmly. “I’m giving you exactly one week to get me the key or my friend here— ” he pointed at Insect “—won’t stop at just an ear.”

Spider truly hoped it wouldn’t come to that. He wasn’t a monster after all. Happily for her sister, Inkwell seemed to have realized the futility of resisting. She hung her head in defeat and sighed heavily. Even her mane looked sullen.

“Okay, I’ll do my best…” Inkwell said with a shaken voice. “But promise me you won’t hurt her anymore.”

“I give you my word,” Shade nodded. “Remember, one week.”

He gave a sign and his thugs led Inkwell outside, putting a blindfold on her eyes. She would be taken far away from this place and released.

“Hope she misses the deadline…” mumbled Insect under his breath, making the mare’s sobbing intensify.

Shade threw a sharp glance at him, “Make sure the mare’s alright. I need her alive.”

The pegasus was one of his most loyal and effective lieutenants, but sometimes Shade barely resisted the urge to get rid of him and replace him with a saner individual. Only the fact that there was no suitable candidate had stopped him.

***

It was the last day before the deadline when Inkwell finally reported her success. They met at the same cafe as before, which was full of clients this time of the day. Some of those clients were his own goons, guarding the meeting just in case, but Shade expected no trouble. Inkwell wouldn’t dare to risk her sister’s life.

“There is your key,” she said curtly, dropping a small item on the table.

The Doctor took the key in his hoof and examined it with curiosity. It indeed looked exactly like the key that had been described in the documents he had researched in the past, but he couldn’t tell for sure as he had no access to magic. It was one of the rare moments when he regretted not being born a unicorn. But that’s why he had recruited Morning Bright all those years ago.

“Have you replaced it with a copy as I told you?”

“Of course…” Inkwell answered, gazing at the table in shame.

“If my specialist confirms that it’s the real key, your sister will be freed,” Shade assured her.

Inkwell nodded without a word.

Of course, Shade’s promise was a blatant lie. He wasn’t going to release her for now even if the key was real because then nothing would stop Inkwell from alerting the Princess. No, her sister would remain as his hostage until his plan succeeded. Shade dismissed Inkwell for now with a warning to stay quiet.

The crime lord trembled a little from the powerful emotions — finally the key was in his possession! He was sure it was the real one; Inkwell would be too scared for her sister’s life to deceive him. After decades of his hard work, he was finally on the edge of victory! He forced himself to calm down and summoned the messenger.

“Go to Hills in Manehattan and tell him he’s needed in Canterlot as soon as possible. And warn him to remain inconspicuous; I don’t need the CSS to follow him here.”

Hills was Morning Bright’s name in the organization.

The pegasus nodded and left immediately. He would spend the next day flying to Manehattan to deliver the message in person. Shade didn’t trust letters — the consequences of them falling in the wrong hooves were disastrous. Instead, he had a special group of trusted pegasi who were ready to fly away to any corner of Equestria at his command.

After the order was given, Shade went to the familiar tavern/brothel to let off some steam — a few hours of mindless sex always put his mind at ease. Of course, Shade would have preferred to spend the time with Fleur instead, but she was with Fancy Pants at the moment…It was pointless to dwell on it for now.

The same bartender greeted Shade upon arrival with his sly smile. This time the stallion requested the usual services.

***

“It is the real key as far as I can tell,” Bright concluded after a series of thorough arcane tests.

“Excellent,” said Shade.

Both ponies were in Fleur’s mansion at this late hour. The mare herself sat on a couch with a satisfied smile on her face and sipped wine from a glass. She wholeheartedly approved of her lover’s latest success, despite a minor setback in the face of Sundae…Fleur forcibly threw the wretched mare out of her mind, not wanting to spoil such a moment.

“We will gather a party and go tomorrow,” Shade shared his plan.

“Why rush, my dear?” Fleur asked him, frowning slightly. “We’ve waited years for this, surely we can wait a few more days.”

“I would agree, but the latest report about the CSS’s activities is…concerning. They’re getting smarter and it’s only a matter of time until they reveal the full extent of our plans. My source is saying that an agent named Clipper is behind their latest breakthrough. I should get rid of him quietly…”

Fleur opened her eyes wide. She knew that their secret organization was under the threat of discovery, but she had no idea it was that bad. “What do you mean breakthrough?!”

“They arrested Chief Ironcuff of the Manehattan Police a few days ago,” Bright dropped casually. “I don’t know what their charges are yet, but I’ve already sent the right pony to solve that problem.”

“Are you going to bust her out?”

“No,” the unicorn answered flatly.

“Oh,” Fleur said. It disturbed her a little seeing that her very special somepony didn’t mind getting rid of his old allies who were no longer useful. Deep in her heart she was worried that she was just another ally of convenience for Shade and he’d dispatch her as soon as he got bored of her. Those were foolish thoughts of course.

Another pony entered the room and Fleur turned to face him, welcoming a distraction. Her face turned sour when she saw the thin, almost sickly-looking pegasus – accursed Insect. Fleur didn’t mind Bright as he was bland most of the time — even though it made her nervous at times — but Insect truly lived up to his unfortunate nickname. Being in one room with him made her skin itch, especially with the weird stares he sometimes gave her.

Insect flicked his glance to the mare in passing and stood before Shade. “The troops are ready and waiting in the camp near the town, master.”

“That’s faster than I had hoped,” said Shade. “We shall join them at once in that case.”

“I thought you wanted to leave tomorrow!” Fleur exclaimed in disappointment. She had hoped to spend the last night with her stallion before he ventured to do a daring task that no one had done before.

Fleur ignored Insect’s hard stare, looking into Shade’s dark eyes instead. They were much more gentle and kind to her and she felt more at peace immediately.

“The faster I leave, the sooner I’ll return with victory in my hooves,” he reassured her and turned to his creepy subordinate next. “You will stay in Canterlot and prepare our forces to strike at my command. Send the orders to the rest. A new age will soon begin.”

***

Doctor Shade had to dust off his old camping skills for the journey. The group consisted of a dozen ponies – not counting Shade himself and his second-in-command – and was too large to rent a room in one of the many roadside taverns without raising suspicion. All of the ponies in the party were tough-looking and some of them even had scars. About half of them were simple mercenaries from far-away lands who served for a fee, while the others were ex-bandits and such saved from their fate by the Spider’s organization, who had decided to join it.

They had to keep moving along the road, avoiding the lonely travelers and whole caravans that passed by them as they would no doubt report an army roving on the road. A few merchant guards could be seen on some caravans and Shade’s party could easily overpower them if that had been their intent. But they had a much higher goal instead.

The gate of Tartarus was actually not far from Ponyville, the village where Sundae currently resided, as well as the Princess of Friendship herself along with her friends. Shade didn’t entertain any illusions about assaulting her directly, though he was tempted to do something, being so close to the pony who had almost ruined all of his plans with her nosiness.

But he couldn’t take stupid risks now and he couldn’t spare any ponies from his little group — they were all needed for the task ahead. One of the reasons why the gate of Tartarus was considered a simple legend by most ponies was because of its hazardous location. It was placed deep within the infamous Everfree Forest, where no sane pony would dare to go.

Of course, marching straight through the Forest was exactly their plan.

It was the 3rd day of their journey on hoof when they finally arrived at its border. It would have been much faster to travel by train, but the speed wasn’t worth the risk of being discovered by lurking CSS agents. The Forest looked dark, even though it was still day out. Some of his fighters, the local ones, shuddered at the sight, but the Doctor was calm. He’d been in worse places.

Each pony had a set of enchanted armor stacked in their heavy bags. They took the time to equip it before entering the forest. Serving as a personal example, Shade crossed the border first and walked like he owned the place. Morning Bright followed him and soon the rest of the party. Everypony was silent except for a few quick phrases from time to time — the atmosphere of the Forest didn’t exactly encourage them to talk.

The Doctor often wondered if the Forest had grown around Tartarus to protect it from wanderers or if the influence of Tartarus had caused the Forest to become the cursed place it was. He liked the former theory more as there were no mentions of the Forest until much later after the Great Fight between the two royal sisters. Perhaps after their old castle had been abandoned, there wasn’t anything to counter Tartarus’s destructive influence.

“Where exactly are those ruins?” one of the party members asked Shade after a few hours in.

The leader had failed to mention the true destination was Tartarus. Apart from him, only Bright knew it. The rest were fed a story about some old ruins with powerful artifacts in them that needed retrieving and it wasn’t even that far from the truth. There was no need to test the superstition of his warriors, as most of them considered Tartarus a place of nightmares. Though considering who was held there, it was pretty much an apt description.

“We’re going to be there soon,” Shade answered, quelling their worries.

He glanced at Bright, who nodded in agreement. The exact location of the gate of Tartarus wasn’t known to the Doctor, but he knew the key was the key to finding it. The unicorn had cast a special spell on it and now the item was leading them in the direction of Tartarus itself. There was no road they could follow in the Forest, so they cut straight through the bushes.

Everypony was stunned when one of the bushes suddenly cut through them.

A horrendous creature made of sticks formed itself from the bushes and now stood before the group, growling at them madly. A vile stench from his maw hit their senses like a hammer. However, the fighters quickly recovered from the initial surprise. Timberwolves were a known and planned for danger and they were able to quickly decapitate it and cut the rest into pieces, burning the remains with Bright’s fire spell.

One of the ponies had been injured, but thanks to their enchanted armor, the claws hadn’t cut deep. He was bandaged and the group continued moving towards their destination, slightly shaken by the sudden encounter.

“Watch out, everypony,” warned Bright, “There could be more of them.”

But after that one encounter, the rest of the trip was uneventful. They heard some menacing rumbling from the nearby trees once, but no monster attacked them this time. But nopony even thought to relax in a forest like this. Soon they'd reached a patch of clear land with a small stone temple in the middle.

“This is it,” said Bright simply.

He lifted his hoof, however, ordering the others to stop. The building radiated danger, even Shade could feel it. Bright cast a detection spell and revealed a powerful defensive magic around it. Nothing good would happen if they just waltzed in there with no preparation, but it wasn’t the case here. They had the key and it should allow them to pass without triggering any of the traps.

Bright stepped behind an invisible border first, holding the glowing key high in front of him. A magical dome sprung to life around him and the others kept inside of it like their life depended on it, which was most likely the truth. Everypony was quiet and tense as they moved across the empty field to the temple.

“I’ve got an announcement for you,” Shade said when they neared the large and imposing gate. “We're going to break into Tartarus itself.”

Gasps of shock followed that revelation and even the hardened mercenaries rambled in outrage. Most of them wanted to turn back immediately.

“I’m not being paid nearly enough for this!”

“Tartarus is just a myth!”

Shade listened calmly until the fighters had mostly calmed down. He had expected such a reaction from them, of course, that’s why he had waited until they’d have no choice but to follow him.

“Go with me and you will be greatly rewarded. There is no turning back from this point.”

Despite his warning, one of the ponies in the group spit to the ground in contempt, turned around and trotted back muttering some insults to Shade’s intelligence before anypony could stop the fool. Maybe he thought Shade was lying as they had just crossed the opening safely, but he was badly mistaken if so.

As soon as he got outside of the key’s safe aura, the defense spell came to life, sparkling at him angrily. The stallion had probably realized his error by then, but instead of coming back under the safe dome while he still had the time, he galloped forward hoping to escape the spell’s area of effect.

He failed.

A bright light flashed around him, momentarily blinding the onlookers, and when they saw him again the pony had been petrified, turned to stone. Shade knew he was alive, but it would take ages for the spell to dissipate on its own, so he was useless for their mission ahead. Not even mentioning the alarms he had probably raised in Canterlot by his foolish action! Shade had been ready for some discontent after revealing their true mission, but it seemed he had underestimated the idiocy of some ponies.

“Anyone wants to try again?” He barked at the others, furrowing his eyebrows.

Nopony else volunteered.

“I thought Tartarus was bigger,” somepony suddenly said.

“It’s just a portal into it, you fool,” Shade drilled the unfortunate pony with his stare. “Prepare for the fight as soon as you come out. The other side is guarded by something more than a mere petrifying spell.”

“Y-you mean Cerberus?!”

“We stand no chance against that beast!”

“My grandma told me it has nine heads and each can gobble up a pony in one bite!”
“Enough!” Shade’s bellow made everypony shut up. “Get a hold of yourself, it’s embarrassing. Aren’t you supposed to be hardened warriors?”

“I have a spell that will put Cerberus to sleep if you distract it for long enough,” Bright mentioned casually.

That finally convinced most of the ponies that they had a chance of success. Bright opened the door with the key and they stepped into a dark chamber inside. He lit up his horn to illuminate the place as the other unicorns in the group did the same. The room was empty, save for the large stone archway on the opposite end. It was obviously the portal, though it wasn’t active at the moment, as it seemed.

The arch itself had a fancy wording written on top of it. It was in Old Ponish, but the Doctor knew it flawlessly and was able to read it. It was a good thing the rest of the party members except for Bright couldn’t do the same or another wave of panic would hit them — Beware the evil within the letters said.

“Open the gate of Tartarus,” Shade gave the order.

Bright nodded and walked up to the portal, holding the key in front of him. He had learned the right spell to activate the portal beforehoof — thanks to the information stolen by Inkwell — and cast it now. The archway hummed slightly, but nothing else seemed to change. But Shade remembered the old mirror portal, which he had used to get rid of Sundae — it worked in a similar way.

“You’re first,” he pointed at the first pony he saw.

The pony was reluctant to march into the unknown, especially if it was called Tartarus, but the others nudged her forward since it meant they wouldn’t have to go first. The unfortunate mare slowly approached the archway, regretting the life choices that had led to her being in that position. She stopped right before it, not daring to make another step.

“Go!” Shade ordered impatiently.

The mare jerked and leaped forward, closing her eyes. She passed through the seemingly stone wall and disappeared. She reappeared the next moment unharmed.

“It’s working,” announced Bright.

The others were reassured by the display and one by one followed through the portal with Shade and Bright coming in last.

A furious roar met them on the other side. Shade froze in place at the horrifying picture before him — a giant three-headed dog was fighting with his soldiers. Or perhaps fighting was a bit of a strong word, seeing as they were all galloping as far away from the beast as possible. It was one thing to know about Cerberus, but it was another to see him up close with his large teeth, clacking loudly at the place where a pony hindleg had been just a moment ago.

Bright, however, completely ignored the monster and closed his eyes. He was preparing a spell to put Cerberus to sleep, as he had promised. A harp appeared out of thin air beside him and started to play a soothing music loud enough to be heard through all the bedlam. It seemed to be affecting the monster: his pace slowed down and he yawned with all three mouths.

“Get away from it,” Shade ordered, least some fool tried to attack and messed everything up.

Everypony followed his order this time and the group slowly reassembled. Thankfully, nopony was seriously hurt from the short encounter. Cerberus yawned once again and laid down, beginning to snore peacefully, as if he hadn’t been trying to rip the ponies apart a minute ago.

Shade assessed his surroundings. They were in a gigantic cave which was illuminated by crystal blocks spread out sparsely along its floor. The walls far away were covered in deep shadows. The Doctor knew from Starswirl’s journal that Tartarus was deep underground in a natural cave. But right now, they were just at the entrance; they should move further in to find the actual prison.

“Let’s move.”

He made the others go first, while he and Bright stayed behind in case of any more dangers. The ponies were huddled close together, throwing cautious stares at every piece of rock in their way, half-expecting it to attack. The Doctor was nervous himself — it was not every day you got to break into the legendary prison — but he hid it behind a stony expression.

Soon, the cave narrowed to a corridor passageway, ending with another imposing door. Bright did his usual checking procedure and opened it with the key like the previous one. Behind it, the corridor looked pony-made, unlike the rough and uneven floors at the entrance. An old, frail unicorn walked out to greet them and froze in surprise.

“Who in Tartarus are you?” he blurted out in confusion.

The unicorn was immediately tackled to the ground and neutralized without any orders from Shade. He nodded at the initiative of his ponies in approval. They put a ring on his horn to block the unicorn’s magic, but left him untangled — the thought that some old pony would escape the hardened soldiers was laughable. He wore a heavy-looking chain over his neck with dozens and dozens of different keys.

“You’re a keeper here,” Shade stated. The pony nodded slowly in confirmation. “You will be unharmed if you cooperate.”

The meeting with the keeper wasn’t unexpected. The Doctor had read about him in journals too — the pony was much older than he looked. In fact, he knew Starswirl the Bearded himself at the time when he created Tartarus. One of the most incredible facts about Tartarus was that it preserved the life of the creatures put in here, so that no one would be able to escape the punishment by just dying of old age. No one knew how Starswirl had managed to achieve such an effect, but it was unique to this place alone. That was why Tartarus was reserved for the worst of the worst.

“What do you want to know?” the keeper asked in a tired voice.

“Show us to Tenebris.”

The keeper looked at Shade more closely, narrowing his old eyes.

“I suppose you’re not just here for a family visit?” he chuckled humorlessly.

“What?”

“You’re Nightfall Shade, right? Her direct descendant?”

The Doctor stared at the old pony in shock. How did he know?! Even Bright raised his eyebrows for a second. His warriors exchanged curious glances between each other, having heard his real name for the first time. Perhaps some of them recognized it as belonging to a businesspony from Canterlot.

“Life in here is pretty boring. Nopony to talk to but the monsters,” explained the keeper. “They ask me to check on their relatives up in the big world sometimes, but I never thought one of them would get down here to check on them.”

A light of understanding appeared on Shade’s face.

“Then I suppose I should thank you,” he said to the surprised keeper. “If it wasn’t for you, Tenebris wouldn’t have been able to contact me.”

“Well, damn,” he sighed. “Thousands of years without an accident and suddenly two breakouts in a row in just one year. Celestia is going to fire me for sure.”

Shade shrugged and made a gesture for him to get up. The old unicorn obeyed and without any further encouragement led them through the various corridors of the prison. The warriors were ready in case he was leading them into a trap, but Shade doubted it. He knew the keeper had chosen to be in this place for one simple reason — he was terrified of dying. He wouldn’t risk his life by lying to them.

They finally stopped before the door at the end of a particularly long corridor. The door was different from the others, being much older and shabbier.

“The oldest chamber of Tartarus with the very first prisoner — Tenebris,” announced the keeper, pointing at the door.

“What are you waiting for? Open it up!” Shade ordered impatiently. Years of hard work and now he’s a door away from his goal, but the damn keeper was delaying for some reason!

“I can’t reach the right key,” the keeper said with a hint of embarrassment. “Not without my magic.”

The Doctor nodded to Bright, who easily pulled the heavy keychain off his neck and hovered them before the keeper’s eyes. He pointed at the right key, somehow recognizing it among a lot of similar ones. Bright disengaged it from the chain, dropping the rest to the floor, and put the key in the keyhole.

“This is a historical moment, everypony,” Shade said to his warriors. “You’re about to see your future ruler for the first time.”

Bright turned the key and pulled the heavy door open.

Part IV - Chapter 15: A Tenebrous Threat

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Chapter 15: A Tenebrous Threat

I trotted through the streets of Ponyville with my head still spinning from the newfound memories. The things I had remembered about Doctor Shade and his plans had made Twilight fall into a state of near panic at first. She was able to collect herself however as we walked back to her castle, and even sent one of her guards to summon her six best friends for the council.

“Tartarus is serious,” Twilight repeated once again, opening her castle’s doors. “Despite popular belief, it’s very real and contains the most dangerous creatures in the history of Equestria!”

I barely acknowledged her words with a nod and followed her into the Throne Room behind her. The six were already sitting on their own respective thrones, waiting for us, and for the rest Twilight conjured some simple chairs. For once, the spacious room didn’t feel as empty and cold as usual.

She quickly retold them what we had just learned — Doctor Shade was gathering information about Tartarus. It wasn’t a crime by itself; the crime was that he intended to keep it for himself. But Twilight doubted it was the actual reason why he had decided to get rid of me. He would face some small charges, sure, but nothing worth killing for.

No, after all we’d learned about him in Manehattan, his plans, whatever they were, seemed much more grim. Twilight’s theory that had caused her initial panic was that he intended to free some monsters from Tartarus and use them to get into power. Gasps sounded from all over the room as she shared it with the others.

“We sent Tirek packing, we could beat whatever monster this stallion frees,” Rainbow Dash stated confidently after a moment of hesitation.

Rarity shook her head with a humorless smile. “I would prefer to avoid letting him go that far in the first place, darling.”

Now that I remembered Shade myself, I could share my personal opinion on him. With his pride, he could actually hope to control whatever monster he wished to free from Tartarus. Still, even though he had been pretty mean to me in the past, I had never considered him to be truly evil. Of course, his actions, such as an attempt to kill me — twice — had destroyed all of my illusions about him.

“If he wants to free some monster, why didn’t he do that sooner?” Applejack asked in doubt. “He’s had six years since he got rid of Sundae here.”

It caused some mild arguing among the six, but I couldn’t concentrate enough to listen. Too many memories plagued my head. The things I saw, every thought I had, even every smell — everything caused my brain to spit out some related memory. It was like a dam finally had broken and was flooding my mind, almost overwhelming it.

I had so many older memories to replace the bits of living as a human, but I didn’t want to throw away my human side — I considered it a part of who I was, even though I was a pony first and preferred it that way. I hoped it was a temporary effect of so many memories resurfacing at once, while my brain was trying to decide what was most important. I frowned slightly from a headache it had caused.

“Are you alright, Sunny?” Ruby, my dear Ruby, asked in concern.

Now that I remembered her, I realized how differently she was now acting towards everypony else. She used to be so cheerful all the time…Though this part of her was slowly returning, she was still far from her old self. But one of the few things remaining intact was her affection towards me. I nuzzled her side to express my own affection, making her eyes go wide in surprise.

Her soft coat felt so warm and had a pleasant smell of shampoo. I wouldn’t consider doing such an action before, but now it seemed so appropriate and natural, like I had been doing such things all my life. I suppose I actually had — my life as a human was a blur to me at the moment. Ruby patted me on my head and rubbed my mane gently. I looked at her face and she met my glance with a warm, friendly smile.

Somepony coughed behind me and I turned around, realizing that everypony in the room was looking at me expectantly. Oh my, with all the mess happening in my head, I kind of forgot that we were on a very important meeting. “I’m sorry, you were saying?”

“I asked if there was anything else you remember about the Doctor?” Twilight repeated her question, politely ignoring my discomfort.

I thought hard for a moment, sifting through the various memories, but couldn’t find anything new. I guess I had already said everything there was to know about the Doctor and his plans. I shrugged. “Sorry, Twilight…”

“It’s okay, Sundae. I think we already know enough to make a thorough report to Princess Celestia. Spike!”

Spike, who was standing with a scroll ready, rushed to Twilight and prepared to write down on her command. As she started to dictate the letter to Spike, with her friends listening in and sometimes offering suggestions, I concentrated on my feelings again.

I was happy to have all of my memories back, that was for certain. It was exactly the result I had hoped for when I drank Zecora’s potion a month ago. Despite that, it still had happened completely unexpectedly. One moment I had gotten my mark and the next… I could now recall how I’d gotten my first cutie mark of an old vase and I had to admit — my new one suited me much better for who I was now.

Finally, the letter was finished and Spike blew it away with his dragon fire. It should land on Celestia’s lap immediately after, catching her attention with the emergency red seal. The envelope was even enchanted by Twilight to bump into Celestia’s face if she was busy, so we all hoped to get an answer from her soon. It took another ten minutes that we spent sprouting various guesses about the Doctor’s motives for us to finally receive the answer.

“Princess Twilight,

The situation you have described to me is a serious one, but I’m afraid it’s just the calm before the storm.

After you had brought the malefactor’s interest in Tartarus to my attention, I discovered that the Key of Tartarus has disappeared from my personal chamber as well! It had been used by me quite recently, so the theft couldn’t have happened more than a month ago. Thankfully, it hasn’t been used yet.

My warning spells, unless the malefactor has rendered them useless, have told me if somepony had crossed the border to Tartarus. I will send a detachment of the guard immediately to increase security, but they may not be able to get there in time. The last time a monster freed himself from Tartarus, he devastated the whole country, and we must not allow that situation to repeat itself.

That is why I ask you, Twilight, to secure the gate personally until that help arrives. You must go now while the gate is still closed. But if, for some reason, the gate is already open, you shouldn’t try to fight the monsters yourself — especially considering you lack the Elements of Harmony.

Good luck, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight read the letter for everypony to hear and looked at us with her wide-open eyes when she finished. I couldn’t blame her — I was stunned at the news myself. The Key of Tartarus, whatever the item was, was now in the Doctor’s possession! Technically, we didn’t know if he was the one who had taken it, but he was involved beyond a shadow of a doubt.

“So, I’m gonna pack mah stuff then,” Applejack said simply.

“Do you mean we’ll go with Twilight?” Fluttershy, a timid pegasus, asked in a fluttering voice.

“Why, of course we will, darling,” Rarity assured her with a chuckle. “When have we ever sat out on a world-threatening danger?”

“That one time when Starlight stole Starswirl’s scroll to travel into the past and DESTROY—”

“Thank you, Pinkie!” Starlight stopped her, looking flustered.

Twilight stood up and tapped her hoof at the crystal table to catch our collective attention. I looked at her, wondering what she was going to say.

“I think it would be for the best if I only took the Royal Guards along with me,” she said, drooping her ears. “Celestia is right — we don’t have the Elements anymore. I don’t want to put your lives in danger, girls.”

A murmur of discontent from her friends was the reaction she got. Nopony appeared happy with her suggestion, with Rainbow Dash being the loudest about voicing her displeasure.

“We can kick any Doctor’s flank even without our Elements, Twilight! We’re awesome like that, remember?”

As for myself, I felt the need to go too. I just wouldn’t be able to sit idly in Ponyville, while the Doctor had the Key of Tartarus itself and was about to set all the terrible monsters loose on Equestria. With my returned memories and my latest magic practices, I felt confident in my ability to defend myself if it came to that. Besides, Celestia’s reinforcements would arrive soon anyway, right?

After our combined efforts, Twilight reluctantly agreed to let us come along, and only after we stated that we would go anyway with or without her consent. She gave us a tired smile in the end, “With such friends by my side, the Doctor will stand no chance.”

Everypony went for a group hug after that. Well, everypony but Marcus, who stood at the side looking uncomfortable, like a lone pole on a plain field. It didn’t last for long though – as soon as Pinkie noticed such a horrendous sight, she removed herself from the hug and tackled him, wrapping her limbs around his torso. Marcus patted her on her back carefully at our chuckles.

“So, where are we going?”

***

As Twilight had told me, Tartarus’ entrance was in the middle of the Everfree Forest, much further than Zecora’s hut. I asked one of the guards for his spare utilitarian saddlebag, since I didn’t want to ruin my pretty one on the journey. After that, I packed some food, blankets and some matches — everything I needed for camping. No one knew if we would have to spend the night in the forest, but I felt the need to prepare for every possibility.

Our large group moved through the forest at a slow pace. Twilight led the way as the only one who knew the location of Tartarus, while I and her other friends followed right behind. Marcus walked by our side, wearing the modified guard armor to fit his human form. An old rifle hung on his back, as well as the sword on his hips. He looked ready to take on any monster by himself.

The guards marched separately in their own column; a few pegasi watched over us from the air. I felt much more secure with all of them nearby — they looked able to defeat any monster who dared to cross our path. That was probably why nothing did. I guessed even the crazy inhabitants of the Forest would think twice before going up against such a force.

“The Castle of the Two Sisters is not far away,” Rarity announced for me.

“Yeah, I’ve studied that place. Always wanted to visit it…” I said, memories of my school days coming to my mind. “It’s a shame that such an important archaeological site would be left abandoned like that.”

“I know exactly what you mean,” Rarity said, glancing at me in surprise. “Me and my friends prettied it up a little though, so it’s not completely abandoned. I also destroyed most of the ancient drapes there myself!”

“Really? That’s wonderful news. So much has changed from what I remember of Equestria though…” Rarity looked at me in question and I explained. “Take the Princesses, for example. Princess Celestia used to be the only one around, but now Princess Luna is back from banishment, Princess Cadence appeared out of nowhere and Twilight was crowned one.

Or those monster attacks. I had never heard of anything like that in my time here, but now you've been attacked by Nightmare Moon, Discord, Tirek! Everything in the span of a few years. It’s like Equestria went off the rails as soon as I left.”

“Discord is not a monster,” Fluttershy corrected me, but I just shrugged.

“I’m having a hard time imagining that, sorry,” I said. Fluttershy’s furrowed her eyebrows at that so I quickly explained myself. “I’ve read the books about ponies who lived in the time when he reigned free in the country. It was nightmarish. Frankly, the thought that he’s free now terrifies me.”

“Don’t say that, Sundae,” Fluttershy said quietly, but firmly. “He may have been pretty bad in the past, I won’t deny it, but he’s better now. He isn’t hurting anypony.”

“Yeah, right…” Rainbow muttered from up above and Fluttershy threw her a sharp stare.

“Well, if you say he’s good now, I believe you,” I assured her, but I wasn’t being completely honest.

Discord was literally a boogiepony my mum used to scare me with and now I’d learned that he was a good guy? A likely story. He was known to be a master of deception, so I wouldn’t accept his “reformation” without some solid proof. However, I didn’t want to spend my time with pointless arguing and I switched the topic.

“So who is Princess Cadence?”

“Don’t you remember her?” Ruby bumped me at the shoulder and I shook my head. “Huh, it’s weird. She’s been around for a long time, but she didn’t use to be very public, I guess. She used to spend more time among the commoner ponies like us, not with those snooty nobles.”

“She was my foalsitter,” Twilight suddenly said. “She loves foals, so she volunteered to foalsit them for free. I wasn’t the only one under her care.”

“An actual princess working as a foalsitter…” said Ruby wishfully. “Told you, she’s totally awesome!”

After that our conversation naturally shifted to our childhoods. I was happy to actually be able to share some of the stories from it with Twilight and the rest. They especially liked the one about me casting my first spell, which ended up setting my father’s tail on fire…I remembered being pretty terrified at the time.

That way, talking and sharing stories, we got to Tartarus in what seemed to be a pretty good time. Twilight stopped before a clearing among the woods with some stone building in its center and warned us not to step any further. “This is it. The Gate of Tartarus.”

There was a statue of a stallion closer to the treeline. It looked like he was running: his mouth was gaping in panic and his whole expression suggested terror. The statue looked realistic, almost lifelike — I wondered who had made such a masterpiece. It was at odds with the utilitarian looking building behind it, so it couldn’t have been the same architect. The archaeologist inside me cried at seeing such a waste — the statue would be a prized possession of any museum!

“This hadn’t been here before,” said Twilight, pointing at the statue in question.

“He’s wearing the same armor we saw in the warehouse!” Rarity exclaimed. Ruby nodded rapidly in support.

Now that they mentioned it, I noticed the similarities myself. But why would somepony make a statue with such an armor?

“It must be a petrifying spell,” suggested Twilight and I immediately felt like a fool for not guessing so myself. “There is a pretty powerful one set up by Celestia herself. She gets warned if something triggers it, though, and she didn’t mention that in the letter.”

“The Doctor must have gotten here in the last hour!” Ruby tried to rush forward, but Twilight grabbed her in her magic aura.

“The spell is still active; we can’t go there,” she said, putting Ruby back on the ground.

“Turn it off then,” my relentless friend demanded.

Twilight shook her head. “I wish I could. I’m afraid we can’t do anything but wait here for him to come out.”

I was glad now that I had brought along my camping supplies.

***

Spike had been left back in Ponyville to mind the Castle. At least that was the reason Twilight gave him, but I suspected she just didn’t want to put her small friend at risk. Spike acted pretty mature for his age, but he was a baby after all. The dragon was upset, of course, but he didn’t argue much. Now though, Twilight probably wished that she had brought him along.

She called one of the pegasus guards and Sturdy Peak approached her with a salute. “Yes, Your Highness?”

“Fly to Ponyville as fast as you can and give this letter to Spike,” she gave him a scroll and he tucked it into his saddlebag. “He’ll know what to do.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” he nodded and took off at once.

Twilight rolled her eyes. I knew she couldn’t stand those fancy titles. The rest of the guards had learned pretty quickly about her way of doing things – she practically insisted on being called just Twilight or Princess at worst. Sturdy Peak, however, was an exception. Despite how much Twilight and I disliked it, he continued calling us miss or your highness respectively.

But he was fast, there was no denying that.

As soon as he was gone, we set up a small camp away from the border of the spell and prepared to wait. The mood in the camp wasn’t high — everypony was worried about the situation at our hooves. Twilight paced around the camp, making everypony even more tense. Celestia knew what the Doctor was up to inside of Tartarus. Or, rather, she didn’t and that was the issue. For all we knew, he could be freeing any monster he came across!

Though I doubted he would do that. The Doctor, no matter how much I disliked him, had always appeared to be a reasonable pony and he wouldn’t just set horrific monsters on a rampage across Equestria. The most likely explanation was that he planned to free one specific creature whom he had the means to control, though I had no idea who that would be.

“Do you think we’re gonna fight Tirek again?” Rainbow asked, a note of hope in her voice.

“He got pretty tiny after we beat him the last time,” smirked Pinkie. “And I’ve got a feeling that something big is coming.”

Everypony shifted uncomfortably for some reason after she mentioned her feelings. “Oh my goodness…” Fluttershy muttered.

The waiting for something to happen was the worst part of all. I hoped that Celestia’s forces would arrive first, but my hope was in vain. After about an hour or so mulling about the camp, one of the guards watching the Tartarus entrance ran back to us with the news. I and the others waited impatiently for what he was going to say.

“They’re getting out!” he finally reported.

Well, that settled that.

We hastily packed our small camp and went to look at the entrance for them, but not before Twilight cast some pretty complicated spell, rendering everypony almost invisible. It wasn’t an invisibility spell per se, more like some super-chameleon ability. I could only imagine how much mana it cost for Twilight, but she appeared completely fine. Perks of being an alicorn, I thought with a bit of envy, trying to distinguish her transparent shape among the trees.

We arrived at the clearing and I finally saw the Doctor in person for the first time in so many years. He looked a little older, which was understandable, and wore the same set of armor as his henchponies. I recognized Morning Bright by his side immediately and my heartbeat accelerated. His calm demeanor had always spooked me more than Shade’s rage. Our recent encounter in the warehouse where he’d sacrificed his own ponies in cold blood just to get us played its role too.

There was just dozen of ponies in total, so we outnumbered them almost two to one. If we attacked and apprehended them now, the Doctor would be done for. Him going to Tartarus was blatantly against the law and all the six, including Princess Twilight herself, were the witnesses of his crime; he wouldn’t be able to deny it now.

I also saw no monsters with him — perhaps he had failed to free anyone or decided that it was too risky. It felt a little anticlimactic, but I wasn’t going to complain when luck was on our side for once.

Twilight wasn’t in any rush to command an attack though. I couldn’t see her facial expression because of the spell, but judging from her drooped ears and frozen pose, I could guess that something was worrying her. My insides went cold — had she seen something that I had missed? I looked at the Doctor’s party again as they moved through the opening and noticed something weird.

A unicorn mare walked in their midst wearing no armor like the others. She had a larger build than a regular unicorn and her black mane and night-blue coat looked very similar to Shade’s, if more elegant. But it was her eyes that truly differentiated her from everypony — they were almost completely white and literally sparkling with energy. Suddenly, she stopped like she’d felt something and her gaze flicked in our direction.

I tucked my tail and lowered my ears, taking an involuntary step back. Her horn flashed and it was like something heavy pressed on my head and my knees trembled — her stare was terrifying! The next moment the unicorn mare flashed her horn again and our chameleon spell dissipated like it was nothing. It caused some momentary panic on the enemy side as they scrambled to get their weapons, having noticed us.

With our cover blown, Twilight gave the guard the order to charge.

War cries and screams of pain pierced the air as the two group of fighters clashed with each other. Twilight and her friends surrounded the unicorn mare, who appeared to be the biggest threat, while Starlight was taking on Bright all by herself. I could only watch it from afar because no matter how I tried my limbs refused to follow my will and my heart fluttered in crazy panic at the mere thought of getting closer to this mare.

Ruby shook my whole body, making my teeth to clench painfully. “Sunny, wake up!”

“I’m n-not asle—” I couldn’t finish my sentence because my tongue felt too thick in my mouth.

“You don’t look alright, Annie,” Marcus said, slipping into my old name by mistake. “I mean, Sundae.”

The name was the last of my worries at the moment, however. Marcus was right — I wasn’t alright; it appeared that this weird mare had hit me with some kind of spell that rendered me completely useless for a fight. I glanced at the continuing brawl in despair — my friends weren’t faring well and would greatly appreciate my help, however small my fighting abilities were.

Even though the guards were beating back the enemy combatants, a few of our own already lay on the ground, bleeding — I sincerely hoped they weren’t mortally wounded. I saw how the guard’s spear deflected off the breastplate of the henchpony and he struck right back with a sword. I winced as the weapon sliced through the guard’s armor like it was made of wood. At least there were more enemies on the ground, despite their clearly superior weapons.

The unicorn mare was holding her own against the six of her opponents. Even worse, she was winning! Twilight threw a powerful attack spell at her that would smite somepony like me like a bug, but the unicorn deflected it seemingly with ease. The rest of Twilight friends were trying to strike her when they saw an opportunity, but were just as unsuccessful.

Applejack found the right moment and rushed to her from the back, preparing to give a powerful buck with her hindlegs, but the unicorn somehow noticed her and sent Applejack flying through the air, hitting her with some powerful magic. My heart clenched in terror for her life as the apple mare crashed into a tree, breaking it in half and landing somewhere behind it. I breathed a sigh of relief when she got back up looking mostly fine, and went back into the fight, though limping a little.

I searched with my eyes for Starlight next — she appeared to be in a stand-off with Bright. No one had the upper hoof in their magical duel this time. I should help at least her! With me by her side as a distraction, Bright would stand no chance. Grunting, I forcefully moved my hoof forward and made the first step, but Marcus stopped me with a palm on my back.

“You’re in no condition to fight,” he said and Ruby nodded vigorously. “And neither am I, to be completely honest.”

I glanced at his pale face and realized that Marcus was scared. It wasn’t at all surprising — he was seeing battle magic and such violence for the first time. It would shake anyone’s spirit without preparation. The guards at least had their training to prepare for something like that.

“Let’s just go,” Ruby suggested. “Twilight’s got it.”

The situation didn’t look as great as Ruby implied, however. “B-but…we have to…”

“You almost died the last time we were in a fight, I won’t let you do that again!”

“I didn’t…have my memories…” I tried to argue, but Ruby smirked despite the grave situation.

“Then you should know that you’ve always been a pretty weak unicorn,” she said bluntly. “Memories or not, you’re not fighting this time.”

Frankly, I felt insulted. I had always considered myself no less than average level by the very least. But before I could answer, a stray spell hit the ground in front of us, blowing up in a wave of ice shards. I barely covered my eyes with my foreleg, wincing as the small shards cut into my skin. At least Marcus had some clothes and his armor to protect him.

“We need to run!” exclaimed Ruby and pulled me away by my tail.

It was a totally undignified method of travel.

“I can go myself,” I said, recovering a little the further we got from the fighting.

She let my tail go and we trotted in the opposite direction from the battle. We didn’t go very far, however — I stopped at our recent camping site and refused to go any further. “We’ll be fine here. Let’s just wait until it’s over.”

And so we waited.

I lay on the ground; my legs tucked under me, still shaking from whatever mind spell I had been hit with. Ruby was right by my side — so close that our coats were intertwining and I could feel her body heat. Marcus was sitting on some tree trunk nearby. Everyone listened to the sounds of the still ongoing battle. My ears were pointed in its direction, so I could hear the clashes of metal on metal and loud spell discharges. I hoped that our side was winning; the alternative was too scary to consider.

Soon the fighting seemingly ended and deadly quiet loomed over us, interrupted only by the Forest’s unnatural sounds. Neither of us said a word; we exchanged quick glances and stood up to prepare for whatever happened next. But nopony was truly ready when two figures suddenly appeared in our midst with a bright flash. We dashed to the sides in case that was an attack, but it turned out to be just Starlight.

I gasped when I noticed the condition she was in — her mane disheveled and half-burned, coat covered in dust and dirt; she could barely stand on her trembling hooves! That teleportation seemed to have sucked all the remaining strength out of her and she collapsed onto the ground, unconscious. I rushed to her, ignoring the other pony, Fluttershy, who was sitting there staring at the ground dumbfounded, but looking unharmed otherwise.

“What happened?” I asked her after making sure Starlight didn’t have any visible wounds.

“This awful pony…she’s too powerful,” Fluttershy said, her words barely understandable because she had started sobbing. “She’s killed all the others!”

My heart dropped to my hooves. I just couldn’t believe what she was saying. How could Twilight and the others just…die? Nope. She had to be mistaken. I refused to believe it until I saw their bodies for myself. I ignored my shocked friends and galloped in the direction of the enemy; the adrenaline washing away the remains of the mind spell cast on me. “Wait!” exclaimed Ruby, but I was already gone.

After a short and wild sprint, I glimpsed the clearing between the trees. Blood was pouring into my brain and all I wanted to do was bring a world of pain on the ponies who’d just killed my friends. No, not killed! I should remain positive. I forced myself to stop and take a few calming breaths, as Twilight had taught me to do in a stressful situation.

Instead of charging blindly forth, I carefully approached the clearing, hiding myself low in the bushes. I peaked through the leaves at the trio of ponies who stood in the center, giving orders to the few henchponies still remaining. I didn’t care much about them for the moment — my gaze desperately searched for my friends. The next moment felt like a mountain had fallen from my withers.

“Thanks Celestia,” I murmured as I saw everypony alive. Certainly not well, but at least they were still alive.

I couldn’t see much from my low point of view, but I watched as my friends were picked up from the ground in various states of consciousness. All of them looked beat up; some barely moved. Rainbow struggled against her captors stubbornly, refusing to be tied up, but the mare shot a blast of electricity into her flank. With a painful neigh, Rainbow submitted.

The surviving guards were getting much rougher treatment. They were being raised up despite their wounds and shoved in the building’s direction. The ones who could stand themselves helped their less fortunate comrades to move. A few remained on the ground; they were either too injured to walk even with the help or…dead.

Grass shuffled and Ruby crawled up to me, having finally caught up. She sighed in relief seeing our friends alive and then gave me a painful smack in the head. I cringed, suppressing a yelp. I threw a furious stare at her and she met it with one of her own.

“Do you want to get killed, stupid?” Ruby whispered furiously into my ear. “We should run.”

I pointed her in the direction of our friends, who were now being levitated into the building by the unicorn mare, followed by the Doctor and most of his followers. A few ponies stayed outside and were helping their own wounded. “We need to save them.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she smacked me again and I lowered my ears. “If Twilight and all the others couldn’t win, we don’t stand a chance on our own.”

I knew that she was right. It was kind of ironic that our situation was reversed — usually it was me who talked her out of doing something crazy. But I was burning in shame for not joining the fight in the first place. How could I just watch and do nothing, while the Doctor was locking my friends up in Tartarus, especially knowing it was partly my fault?

But that was exactly what I did.

The reasonable part of my mind had won the battle in my head in the end. After a few minutes, Ruby and I slowly backtracked and walked back to our camp in defeat. Fluttershy was taking care of Starlight, despite tears rolling out of her eyes. She had already put the bandages on the few small cuts I had missed at a first glance. Starlight herself had already come back to her senses and was sitting on her haunches with a grave expression.

“Twilight and the others are alive,” I announced to them.

Fluttershy perked up her ears and stared at me with a wild hope in her eyes. “Really?!”

“Yep,” Ruby nodded. “Looks like you were wrong.”

“I’m so happy to be wrong!” Fluttershy exclaimed with a large smile, which disappeared a moment later. “But they’ve still been captured. And you said nothing about the guards… What should we do now?”

“We need to get back to Ponyville,” said Starlight, giving me a hard stare for some reason. “I have no idea who that mare was, but she’s extremely powerful. We need the alicorns’ help to beat her.”

“Let’s go then.”

***

Our retreat back to Ponyville was much less enjoyable than the beginning of our journey. We were constantly on the lookout, reacting to every branch cracking loudly under somepony’s hoof — there wasn’t a guard’s platoon to protect us from the monsters anymore. Marcus walked, holding his rifle at the ready.

He obviously thought that it would be more useful in his hands than a sword that he had just barely learned to wield. I had my reservations about it, considering the most common monster in the Forest was made of wood. I thought that the blade would cause more damage to it than rifle bullets, which would probably make it angrier. But I kept those thoughts to myself; if Marcus felt safer with a rifle, then so be it.

“Who do you think that mare was?” I asked Starlight, who dragged her legs on the ground.

She shrugged. “I said, I have no idea. She’s obviously somepony who was locked in Tartarus. Twilight called her Tenebris a few times during the fight.”

“Tenebris…” I mulled the name over my tongue. “The name seems vaguely familiar.”

“You’ve probably read about her in some old book,” said Starlight. “Tartarus preserves the lives of the ones imprisoned there, so they’re basically immortal.”

“That’s cool,” Marcus commented.

“So they can suffer in that cursed cage endlessly for all of eternity,” continued Starlight.

“Less cool.”

That grim revelation seemed to kill the mood for any more talking.

Some time later, a quick movement flicked at the edge of my vision. The others had noticed it too as they stopped, trying to see what it was. I stared into the deep shadows, but could distinguish nothing except for the dark trees. Maybe it was just the wind…At least I desperately hoped it was.

We slowly continued on our way, watching our surroundings with redoubled attention. I had only made a dozen steps when a low growl sounded right behind me. I walked in the tail of our small group, so my blood ran cold in terror. My primal instincts kicked in and I instinctively bucked behind me, feeling my hind hooves hitting something with a loud crack, and I sprinted away with a scream.

My friends turned around, alarmed, to face whatever had spooked me and I joined their line; my hearts beating furiously in my chest. I crunched my muzzle from the disgusting, vile smell that told me who the monster was before I even looked. A large wolf-shaped beast made of wood stood a few meters from us, recovering from a blow to his head. A few of his fangs were missing and one of them hung on a thin twig from his mouth — my buck had had some effect.

It was a timberwolf.

I saw Marcus leveling his rifle — BAM — and half of the wolf’s face was gone. I flatted my sensitive ears against my skull, but it was too late; it rang from the shot so badly that I couldn’t hear anything else. Everypony around me fared no better, so we noticed the second wolf only when it jumped on Marcus from the back and tackled him onto the ground.

The timberwolf mauled him savagely. I gazed at the tragedy unraveling before my eyes, shocked for a moment, but then I screamed in rage and blasted the wolf with a spell, which came to me easily in the heat of the moment. The wolf was thrown off, hitting the closest tree and fell into pieces. However, each piece was sucked into some sort of aura and the beast started to reassemble.

Starlight put an end to him with a spell of her own, though she cringed painfully as she did so — she wasn’t fully recovered from the fight before. The monster was destroyed, with his parts set ablaze and thrown high into the sky. Hopefully they’d burn up before they hit the ground.

I glanced at Marcus, who appeared to be alive for now, but my attention was on the first wolf, who was trashing around with no head. Ruby tried to approach him for a heavy buck, but she barely avoided one of his blind attacks and so started to circle him from behind. It was difficult, as the monster was changing direction seemingly at random, swinging his sharp claws wildly.

Without thinking, I grabbed a log from the ground and launched it at the wolf, hoping to hit his legs. It broke his front one in half and he fell down, still beating around with his remaining limbs. Starlight followed my example and together we continued to hammer him with heavy logs until every part of him had been smashed to dust.

With the danger finally over, we all rushed to Marcus, who was already trying to get up on his own. Thankfully, his armor had protected him from the worst of the damage, but he still had a gash on his arm and his nose was bleeding. Starlight applied some quick spell to stop the initial bleeding and then Fluttershy used a mixture from her saddlebag and some bandages to properly tend to the wound.

“What the fuck was that?” Marcus asked in a shaken voice.

“Timberwolf,” I said, jumping from hoof to hoof nervously, still full of adrenaline after the fight.

The ringing in my ears subdued and I swiveled them in all directions at once, expecting a new attack at any second. I held the half-destroyed log in my magic and waved it around threateningly, ready to swing it into the enemy. I almost smashed it into Ruby thinking she was an attacker when she touched my shoulder, but managed to stop it mere inches from her head.

“Whoa, girl, calm down,” she said to me, flinching at the log. “The fight is over now.”

I put the log on the ground, shaking. I needed to keep my cool — I had almost killed my friend just now! I took a few deep breaths and it helped to calm me down a little. Ruby pulled me into a hug without a word and I sobbed into her warm fur. “There, there…” she gently patted me on my mane.

The stress of the situation had finally gotten to me. I realized how bad everything was, with Twilight and the others being captured and us being in the middle of the Everfree Forest, getting harassed by some dangerous monsters who could eat a pony in one bite. After a few minutes of making a mess with my tears on Ruby’s fur, I felt much more at peace.

Finally disengaging from a hug, I looked at the wet, dirty spot at her shoulder. “Sorry,” I said, blushing.

“That’s what friends are for!” Ruby nodded happily, not disturbed in the slightest at my emotional breakdown and the mess I had made.

Together, we approached the rest. Marcus was reloading his rifle, which was difficult using only one hand. I offered to help and quickly put everything in place with my precise levitation skills. The rifle wasn’t as useless as I had thought — it had likely saved our lives in the encounter. Too bad it had just one shot in it before needing a reload. Marcus nodded in appreciation as I gave the rifle back to him, ready to fire again.

“It looks kind of bent now,” he said, examining the weapon closely. “I hope it still works.”

I gave it a quick glance, but it looked the same as usual to me. Though I admit I wasn’t a rifle expert, but neither was Marcus.

I was hungry, but we decided not to stop for that — the Forest had proved to be too dangerous for that. We continued on our way immediately, but not before I grazed a few patches of grass. It tasted bland, but it at least it was edible and satisfied my hunger somewhat. Marcus gave me a funny look as I chewed the green straws.

“Ew, what are you doing, Sundae?” he asked.

I shrugged — it wasn’t uncommon for ponies to eat plain grass. “It’s delicious!” I said with some fake enthusiasm. “You should try some.”

“No, thanks,” Marcus declined my offer with a disgusted frown and I heard Ruby snicker. I flickered a smile myself.

We chatted with each other much more than before the encounter with the monster. Maybe we were feeling more confident after defeating two of them or, more likely, were trying to hide our fears behind some mindless talk. We were still careful and attentive of our surroundings though, so we were able to notice another attack in time. I threw a log at the wolf from afar and then we quickly finished it off like the first one.

After that, the forest beasts learned to keep out of our way.

After a few hours of tiresome walking like that, we realized that we were getting lost. Fluttershy was our savior as she was able to fly up above the canopy to find the direction we needed to go. I didn’t let my guard down, even after the forest thinned out and finally ended. We walked out onto a big, unfamiliar pasture with no Ponyville in sight. It seemed like we had gotten a little sidetracked on our journey, which wasn’t a big surprise — no one knew the Forest as well as Twilight.

The large hills around us were blocking our vision, so Fluttershy had to fly up again to look for Ponyville from the cloud level. After a few minutes, she landed beside us with a worried expression. “I don’t see Ponyville anywhere close.”

My ears fell in disappointment. Too bad I couldn’t fly myself — I was reluctant to blindly trust Fluttershy’s judgment after her recent mishap. Fluttershy was nice, but she was just too nervous… I immediately felt bad thinking such thoughts, recalling my emotional breakdown after the fight with the timberwolves. Starlight was doubting her observation as well, however.

“We couldn’t have gone that far,” she said. “Are you sure you didn’t just miss it?”

“I don’t know…I guess, I can try again.”

“Eh, don’t bother,” I said, waving my hoof dismissively. “It’s getting late anyway. We all should get some rest and find Ponyville in the morning.”

“We don’t have the time to spare, Sundae,” Starlight snapped at me. “Every second we waste is one more second our friends are spending in the Doctor’s hooves!”

I took an involuntary step back — Starlight had never yelled at me before. It was just the stress of the situation getting to her, I told myself. “Fine, I get it…No need to yell.”

Starlight looked ashamed for a second, but then that emotion disappeared, replaced with anger. Anger at me.

“Why didn’t you help us in the fight?” she said, stabbing me painfully in the chest with her hoof. “Maybe together we would have beaten them.”

I was shocked, hearing such an accusation from her. Before I could say something in my defense, Ruby intervened. “Don’t you dare to blame Sunny!”

“I’m not blaming her,” Starlight said, frowning deeply. “I’m just asking why she didn’t use all those spells I had taught her to help us.”

“Girls, stop fighting please!” Fluttershy exclaimed, landing between us. I looked at her in surprise. “Not everypony is as brave as you, Starlight. Sundae went through a lot today — she got a new cutie mark, got her memories back and you expect her to throw herself into a vicious fight just like that?!”

“I wanted to help, honestly,” I mumbled, “But just one look at that mare gave me the shivers. I couldn’t even take a single step…”

“That’s right, she was hit with some kind of mind spell just before the fight! She was all wobbly and shaky, but she still tried to go in. She probably would have if I hadn’t stopped her in time, but she would have been killed in such a condition.”

Starlight seemed to deflate after hearing that, losing all her energy to continue the arguing. She let out a heavy sigh.

“Well, it looks like I’m a horrible friend,” she stated flatly and stared onto the ground. “I…I was just trying to blame somepony for the disaster…I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” I said, approaching her and wrapping my forelegs around her neck. “You’re just worrying about our friends. We all are.”

Starlight let me hold her for a while, just like Ruby had done to me earlier, and it helped her to collect herself. “I understand that we’re tired,” she finally said, “But we really have to find Ponyville today. The sooner Celestia knows about what happened, the faster we can free our friends.”

“It’s getting dark and we don’t even know the right direction,” countered Ruby.

“I can look for it from the skies while you all rest,” Fluttershy offered after a second of consideration. We turned to look at her and she fluttered a little, but continued nonetheless. “I’ll find Ponyville, tell Spike to send the letter and then return for you in the morning.”

“That…actually sounds like a good idea,” Starlight nodded slowly.

***

The next morning, I was awoken by Marcus. I stirred on the grass and yawned widely, feeling completely at peace, right until I remembered the reason we were sleeping outside. The sun had long since risen; it was late in the morning by all signs. I frowned in concern — wasn’t Fluttershy supposed to have woken us up? I looked around, but couldn’t see her among our group.

“Where is Fluttershy?” I asked the question out loud.

“She’s not here yet,” answered Ruby with a hint of worry.

My frown got deeper. Was she still looking for Ponyville after so long? I sincerely doubted we’d gotten that far from it by wandering through the Forest. With all the crazy stuff happening with us lately, I was afraid to imagine what could have delayed her. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Maybe she just overslept,” Starlight suggested.

Whatever the reason was, there was no point for us to stick around at this particular spot. After a quick breakfast — with some real food this time — we picked a direction where we hoped Ponyville would be and trotted up the first hill. No town appeared in our sight after we had gotten on top of it, only more hills, but we continued on our way determinedly.

I just hoped we were going in the right direction.

As it turned out, we were. It was good to have luck on our side for once. It took us a few hours of tiresome climbing up and down through the rough terrain, but we finally saw Ponyville in a distance. We were pretty close to it — the hill had been blocking our vision of the town until the last moment. The closest house was just a mile or less away from where we were standing.

My worry about Fluttershy increased. If we had managed to find Ponyville that quickly, she would do that much more easily from the skies. I shared my thoughts with the others and they agreed that we shouldn’t relax just yet. For all we know, the Doctor could have outpaced us and was waiting somewhere behind the corner, ready to spring his trap.

I noticed that there was a much smaller number of ponies on the street than usual. It wasn’t that weird, I suppose — most of them would be at work at that time of day, so I told myself not to jump to any conclusions. But I couldn’t help but suspect the worst.

“There she is!” Ruby exclaimed, pointing at the yellow pegasus trotting towards us from the town.

I let out a sigh of relief. Fluttershy — it was definitely her — waved to us from afar and soon we got close enough to talk. I glanced at the guard kneecaps she was wearing for some reason.

“Hello, Fluttershy!” Ruby greeted her and gave a quick hug that the pegasus barely reacted to.

Fluttershy’s smile grew from ear to ear. “Hello, my friends!”

I flickered my ears down from her unexpected loudness. I guess she was just happy to see us. Come to think of it, she seemed too happy, considering that most of her friends had just been imprisoned in Tartarus.

“Did you send the letter to the Princess?” Starlight asked.

“Of course I did!” Fluttershy answered after a moment of barely noticeable hesitation. “Mister Spike sent it right away.”

Starlight tilted her head in confusion. “Since when do you call Spike a mister?”

“Eh, I just respect him so much since he’s such a rare creature,” she said, waving her hoof dismissively. “Anyway, what’s up?”

“Why didn’t you return for us as you’d promised?” Ruby asked with a narrowed stare, ignoring her question.

Fluttershy appeared thoughtful, carefully considering her answer, and then looked at the ground in shame. “I overslept. I’m sorry, I was just so tired…”

“It’s fine, Fluttershy,” Starlight assured her. “There is no harm done. Have you already gotten an answer?”

“An answer? Yes, of course,” she nodded. “And it’s very urgent. I left it back at the castle. Let’s go!”

Having said it, she turned and walked in the direction of the castle, clearly expecting us to follow. We did so, keeping a little behind her. Something was off in Fluttershy’s behavior — everypony had noticed that. She usually talked with some sort of timidity, but here she was speaking loud and clearly, and was hesitating with each reply.

“She’s acting weird,” Ruby whispered so only we could hear.

Starlight nodded silently, deep in thought. “Be on your guard.”

Fluttershy glanced back to see if we were following and I faked a smile to her. Soon, I discovered something weird — everypony we met refused to look at us. I caught somepony’s stare once, but he quickly looked away. One of the ponies was making some wild gestures to me from the window, pointing at the castle and shaking her head. I alerted my friends to it.

Starlight’s reaction was to stop in the middle of the road. “I feel like I’m walking into a trap,” she stated loudly.

Fluttershy apparently heard that as she stopped as well and approached us with a weirdly stretched smile. It was kind of creepy, to be honest. “What do you mean, Starlight Glimmer? Why would I lead you into a trap?”

Instead of the answer, Starlight grabbed the pegasus in her magic and forcefully slammed her into the ground. There was a sickening crunch and Fluttershy yelped in pain, having apparently broken one of her wings. I gaped at the sight before my eyes in horror. Had Starlight gone crazy?! Sure, Fluttershy was acting weird, but that was no reason to beat her up! Ruby thought so too apparently, as she tackled the purple unicorn to the ground, distracting her enough to disrupt the spell holding Fluttershy.

“What the hell is happening?” Marcus asked no one in particular, while I just stared dumbfounded.

Starlight tried to untangle herself from Ruby’s grab, but the earth mare was too strong and Starlight was reluctant to use magic to free herself. “Don’t you get it?! That thing is not Fluttershy!”

“What?” I asked, starting to fear for my friend’s sanity.

I turned my gaze back to the hurt mare, but instead of her, some fanged monstrosity was getting up. It was definitely pony-shaped, but it didn’t look like a pony with its insectoid wings, one of which was broken in the middle, nor with its black coat. I took an involuntary step back as the creature looked at me with its glistening green eyes.

Ruby shrieked in surprise, noticing the thing too and hastily helped Starlight to get up. We stood in line, facing the creature together. I lit up my horn, preparing the most powerful blast spell I knew and Marcus aimed his rifle at its head.

“I wasn’t going to harm you, I swear!” the creature dropped on its knees, instead of attacking like I had expected.

“A likely story, changeling,” Starlight said. “Why did you take Fluttershy’s form?”

“I’ll tell you if you promise not to hurt me.”

“We won’t hurt you,” Starlight assured the changeling. “Now talk.”

“Tenebris has captured Miss Fluttershy and ordered me to take her form and lure you all to this castle over there,” — the changeling pointed at the large crystal building behind him, as if there were any other castle nearby, — “She threatened to kill me if I refused.”

“Tenebris?” I repeated the name. “Is she that pony that the Doctor freed from Tartarus?”

“That’s the one,” the changeling nodded.

“Where is Spike?” Starlight asked menacingly. “If you did something to either of them…”

“I’ve done nothing to them! I’m a prisoner, just like they are.”

The ponies cleared the street around us after our clash. I felt nervous just standing there so close to the castle, knowing that our enemies were waiting for us there. “Maybe we should get off the street.”

Starlight nodded. She grabbed the changeling in her magic and we turned to the side alley. The inhabitants of Ponyville hid themselves in their houses at our approach — understandable, considering the changeling we had with us. The changeling itself remained quiet and didn’t complain, even though I saw that his broken wing was obviously causing him much pain.

We stopped at the dead end between some old buildings and she put the changeling on the ground. He cringed, correcting his injured wing. “I’ll tell you what you want to know.”

“Why should we believe you, changeling?” Ruby asked with spite in her voice.

“Tenebris is my enemy just like she’s yours,” he explained, but Ruby and Starlight still watched him with narrowed eyes.

As for myself, I was confused. Sure, the changeling looked pretty evil and I’d heard the stories about his kind’s recent attack on Canterlot, but this one wasn’t acting like the monster I’d imagined them to be. But on the other hoof, maybe he was just pretending in order to stay alive — Marcus still held his rifle pointed at him.

There was also something vaguely familiar in the way the changeling acted though. “Who are you?”

“I’m a changeling, miss,” he said. As soon as he addressed me in that particular way again, I got it. I was able to recognize that attitude pretty well by now.

“Sturdy Peak?” I asked to confirm my suspicion. The changeling nodded, resigned.

“Wait, what?” Marcus exclaimed suddenly. “You’re Sturdy Peak?!”

“Yep. Hi, Marcus,” the changeling grinned half-heartedly. Marcus just stared at him in shock.

The changeling admitted that he’d infiltrated the Guard years ago to spy on Equestria’s military. But after the invasion had failed, he just went on with being Sturdy Peak the Guardpony, having not received any new orders since then. He claimed to be acting on his own free will and I was inclined to believe his story, but Ruby and Starlight weren’t so trusting.

“Have you at least delivered the message that Twilight asked of you?” Starlight asked.

“Yep,” the changeling nodded. “I gave the scroll to Spike, as she’d ordered. Tenebris appeared soon after that and seized the castle. She somehow immediately discovered that I was a changeling.”

“She also saw right through the chameleon-spell back in the Forest…” Starlight mulled. “Perhaps it has something to do with those eyes of hers.”

The changeling shrugged, not having an answer to that. Sturdy, as I continued calling him, offered to help us and Starlight decided to release him. It was either that or finishing him off for good, since we had nowhere to hold him as a prisoner. No one in our group had the heart for that, however, so we had to give him the benefit of the doubt.

The situation was grave. All of our friends had been captured and the Doctor – or rather Tenebris – had basically taken Ponyville. The good news was that Celestia had been warned about the Doctor successfully breaking into Tartarus, though she was yet to receive any information about his recent advances. The forces she had sent to guard Tartarus would be idling uselessly, being unable to enter and having no way of knowing what had happened.

We didn’t know the Doctor’s full plan, but he had proved to be a dangerous foe and was probably prepared for a way to deal with Celestia, most likely with the help of Tenebris. And now with Tenebris at the lead of his whole organization, if the changeling was to be trusted, he’d come dangerously close to success.

We couldn’t afford to be idle. Twilight and the rest were out of our reach in Tartarus, but we could at least save Fluttershy and Spike from the castle. Especially Spike, as he was the key to alerting the Princess. Tenebris didn’t have many ponies with her in at the moment; most of them had been wounded in the fighting. Besides, I knew the castle like the back of my hoof by now and all the places where the prisoners could be held.

“So we all agree that’s what we’re going to do?” asked Starlight.

“Yep. Sunny stays out of it, though.”

“Hey,” I glanced at Ruby in annoyance. “I want to actually help this time.”

Thankfully, Starlight supported me on this one. “She’s not a young filly, Ruby. You can’t order her around like that.”

“But we’ll have a better chance with fewer ponies, right?” Ruby remained at her position. “We’re supposed to be sneaky and Sunny is as loud as a yak.”

“I’m not that loud…”

“We’re all going,” Starlight stated with an air of finality. Facing the both of us, Ruby finally gave up.

***

We decided to go immediately. We approached the castle from the lake side and I saw no enemy patrols around; they were all probably waiting for us inside. It felt foolish to try something like this in broad daylight, but there was no point in waiting until night — they might have left by then, taking our friends with them as well as our chance to warn the Princess in time.

Starlight teleported into her room on the upper floor and we waited with bated breath until she finally opened the window and gave us a sign that everything was fine. She levitated us to her one by one, including the changeling, who we had to take along. We kept an eye on him, of course, but so far he’d appeared to be on our side for this. If he had wanted to hurt us, he would have had plenty of chances this past month.

Once we all got into Starlight’s room, she cast a spell that allowed her to see through the walls. I was familiar with this one too, so I followed her example. The corridor outside looked empty, but I couldn’t see further than that. With a spell that muffled our hoofsteps, we left the room and went to check the first place where we were expecting to find our friends.

The castle appeared completely abandoned. Of course, I knew that there weren’t supposed to be a lot of ponies, but so far we had not found a single soul. I would suspect that Strudy had lied to us, but why would he? According to him, he was supposed to lure us in here, so the enemies could capture us. It made no sense for him to say that while they weren’t actually here.

Suddenly, I noticed that the temperature in the corridor was dropping. The floor quickly became covered in a thin layer of ice. I stopped dead in my tracks, lighting up my horn, while Starlight did the same. Marcus cocked his rifle, pointing it forward, where a cloud of mist was growing out of thin air. There were three distinctive pony shapes in it.

A moment later it dissipated revealing the unicorn mare — Tenebris — along with Doctor Shade and Bright.

I recoiled, almost stumbling and falling to the floor if not for Ruby. I glanced back, hearing some hoofsteps behind us — a few henchponies in armor blocked our way there as well. It was a trap! The changeling among us appeared to be scared too, having returned to his original form and scowling at the enemy with his fangs.

“Good job, changeling,” Tenebris said in a high and deliberate voice. “I’ll let you live for now.”

Sturdy changed his expression to one of surprise and then frowned. I could practically feel the conflict inside him, while he was deciding whether he should stick with us or pretend that it had been his plan all along. I wasn’t surprised by his ultimate decision — I would probably do the same in his position.

“I’m happy to serve you, Lady Tenebris!”

He walked past us, ignoring Ruby whispering damn traitor at his back, but before he could stand beside Tenebris and the rest, her horn flashed with a spell and the changeling fell to the floor with a surprised yelp; his legs frozen in a solid block of ice.

“I would be a fool to trust your service, creature,” she said, her voice sounding as cold as the air in the corridor. “I promised you’d live, but I didn’t say you’d remain free.”

“What do you want, Tenebris?” Starlight asked the mare; her horn glowing with magic.

“I want you to stop opposing me.”

Having said that, she fired a spell at our group. However, we had long since been prepared for that. A shield spell powered both by me and Starlight came to life, harmlessly deflecting Tenebris’ first attack. I felt strained, however, and even Starlight grunted, struggling to keep it together. Marcus attempted to fire his rifle at Tenebris, but it jammed at the worst possible moment — the damage from the timberwolf attack proved to be more serious than it had seemed. He pulled the trigger wildly, but the rifle just refused to shoot.

Tenebris’ second spell destroyed our shield completely and I fell to the ground in exhaustion, my horn smoking from the magic overload. Starlight remained standing, but she was panting hard, continuing to glare at Tenebris. Bright and the Doctor simply stood beside her, not participating in the fighting. I understood that we’d already lost, but Ruby had other ideas in her crazy head.

She charged at the enemy before I could stop her.

Another flash of Tenebris’ horn and she crashed beside the changeling, her legs strung together with ice.

“You’re no match for me, little ponies and the beast,” she said, with the latter obviously referring to Marcus. “I have no plans to kill you two if you swear loyalty to me. I appreciate such bravery in my fellow unicorns.”

I could barely remain conscious at that point and briefly wondered what she had meant by you two, before the blackness finally overtook my mind.

Part IV - Chapter 16: A Daring Escape

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Chapter 16: A Daring Escape

As my senses slowly returned to me, I realized that I was lying on the cold floor. I pressed my head against it to abate the headache that was killing me. I opened my eyes and the sun reflected painfully right into them; a groan escaped my lips.

“Sunny, are you waking up?” Ruby’s voice asked.

Holding my eyes shut, I got up on my hooves and slowly balanced myself — something heavy pulled on my neck. I saw Ruby standing before me as I cracked my eyes open; her brows lifted high in concern. I was glad to see her lovely face again — for a terrifying moment before losing consciousness I thought Tenebris was going to kill her.

“What happened?” I asked, touching the metal collar on my neck.

“We got caught,” deadpanned Starlight from nearby.

I flickered my eyes at her — she had a similar collar as me, connected to a ring in the wall, but otherwise she looked no worse than before the capture, though it really didn’t say much, as her mane was still disheveled and half-burned after the fight in the forest. But at least she hadn’t hurt any more after Tenebris easily overpowered us.

Looking around the room we were in, I confirmed that we were still in the castle. The crystal room had been stripped of all furniture. The single addition to the interior was a metal ring with chains, driven into the bare crystal wall, as if in some old prison. I suppose it was a makeshift substitute for one, since Twilight’s castle had no real place to put prisoners in. The very idea of Twilight, the Princess of Friendship, having one seemed laughable.

I let out a sigh of relief seeing Fluttershy in the room along with us. Sturdy Peak was here too and I was glad he was alright. Despite him being a changeling, I had kind of gotten used to him during the month that he was guarding me and didn’t want him to be hurt. Both of them were chained to the wall like the rest, in addition to their wings also being tied up firmly to their bodies.

“Where is Marcus and Spike?” I asked, keeping my voice calm despite my worries. “Marcus was taken for questioning an hour ago,” explained Starlight in a doleful voice. “As for Spike — I haven’t seen him at all yet.”

Her answer only made my worry grow. There was no telling what those ponies could do to my friends. I had to do something, but I was chained like some yard dog. Despite feeling magically exhausted, I tried to concentrate as much magic as possible into my horn to blast my chain apart, but to no avail. It simply refused to obey.

Starlight seemed to notice my struggle. She poked at the ring on her horn and I immediately recalled our experience in Manehattan’s jail. “Don’t even bother…” she said.

I sighed and dropped the fruitless attempt. Trying to cast through an inhibitor ring could be dangerous for a unicorn, not to mention completely pointless. Even the strongest ones couldn’t force it. I ran my eyes over the whole room again, but saw nothing that would help us to break free.

I growled in frustration.

“It’s all my fault,” Fluttershy sobbed from the corner. “If I wasn’t so careless…”

“It’s not your fault,” Starlight assured the pegasus. “It’s theirs.”

I ignored both of them and approached the door instead; the heavy chain stretching behind me. I put my ear to the door, listening to the outside. Naturally, I couldn’t distinguish anything.

Although…

Some heavy hoofsteps with a metal clanking were approaching the door from the other side. I recoiled barely a second before the door burst open and Marcus, led by a lone unicorn in gray armor, walked inside.

We watched silently as the unicorn shackled his neck to the ring with a chain. I wanted nothing more than to beat this unicorn up, but it was a bad idea to try. Even so, the unicorn became visibly uncomfortable under our hostile stares and hastily left, tripping and almost falling by the exit. I chuckled humorlessly.

As soon as he had left, I threw myself at Marcus’ neck in a hug. He patted me on the back a few times and then lowered me back to the ground. “It’s good to see you’re alright, Sundae.”

“Same.”

“Do you know where Spike is?” Sturdy Peak interrupted, in his natural changeling form at the moment.

Marcus nodded. “Yep. Saw him in the Throne Room where they questioned me.”

“Thank Celestia!” exclaimed Fluttershy. “I was so worried that they’d done something to him.”

“Nope, he looked fine to me.”

I was glad to know that Spike was fine too. We weren’t too close, but he was a good little dragon and I would be devastated to know if he was harmed in some way. So far, Tenebris hadn’t killed or seriously harmed any of us, except for the guards in the forest…But it was in the heat of battle. Maybe she had some good side in her.

Starlight asked Marcus what the questioning was about and he told us that Tenebris had been interested in knowing more about him. Naturally, he had explained everything about the portal to her — it wasn’t a big secret anyway — and she had appeared to be interested in Earth and its technology. I wasn’t fretting too much about that; the portal wasn’t working anyway. If Twilight couldn’t fix it, I doubt Tenebris could either.

Soon, our talking died down. No one was in the mood to talk, as the situation seemed hopeless — a gloomy silence settled in the room. The Doctor had finally succeeded in his long-planned invasion of Tartarus. I realized now that it had been his plan all along and that was why he had wanted to kill me all those years ago.

“We can’t just sit here doing nothing,” I said out loud to break the sickening silence.

“But what can we do?” Starlight asked bitterly. “We can’t even use our magic.”

“You unicorns depend so much on your magic,” retorted Ruby, “But we earth ponies live without it just fine.”

“Yeah? Do you have some earth pony powers that would allow us to escape?”

“Well, no…”

“Then shut up,” Starlight snapped.

The two mares glared at each other until I stepped between them. “Arguing with each other won’t help the situation, girls.”

“As long as we’re working together, we’ll overcome any challenges,” Fluttershy supported me.

With a renewed spirit, we crawled all over the room in a vain hope to find some means to escape. Of course, there was no escaping without removing the heavy chains first. We pulled on the ring together, trying to rip it out of the wall, but it held there firmly and didn’t even budge.

We didn’t let it affect our spirit, however. Grabbing the chain, we all gave it a mighty yank at the same time over and over again. I think the ring slightly moved at the last yank. The sound of the door opening made us drop our activities.

Tenebris herself walked in with Morning Bright by her side; the air in the room seemed to cool down in her presence. A few henchponies remained waiting outside. We gathered together in the center of the room, standing side by side, like it would help somehow.

“I am giving you a choice, my ponies,” she began without a preamble, giving us a cold glance. “Join me of your own free will or perish.”

“Never,” Ruby immediately answered for all of us.

I cringed a little at her hastiness — I wouldn’t mind pretending to join Tenebris, since she had already offered it, and then use it to escape later. Though she would probably make me do some evil stuff to prove my loyalty, like they’d show in the movies...

“I wasn’t speaking to you, earth pony,” she looked at Ruby through narrowed eyes. “Loyal unicorns are what I require.”

My heart froze. “Don’t you dare to touch Ruby.”

Tenebris slowly turned her deathly gaze at me and, even without casting the mind spell this time, my knees shook from the threat displayed in her eyes.

“She is no use to me,” the mare said. “You two on the other hoof would be useful.”

“You’re mad if you think we’ll support you,” Starlight answered, stomping her hoof.

Tenebris shook her head in seeming sadness. “I would change your mind if I had the time… But I don’t. Take those three outside and kill them,” she ordered, pointing at Starlight, Ruby and me.

Yells of protest sounded from our friends; even the changeling snarled with his fangs at the two soldiers, who dashed to execute the order. It was pointless, however. Tenebris easily shuffled them aside with her magic, totally ignoring the outcry.

“How do you want them to be killed?” one of the soldiers asked, unshackling the chain off my collar.

Tenebris gave him a freezing stare in return. He gulped.

“I don’t care. Just get rid of them fast,” she said.

The soldier nodded vigorously and they led us outside, shoving me rudely. I had to comply — it would be suicide to start a fight in front of Tenebris. Once we turned to the corridor and left her cold aura, it became easier to think. Even though we were being led straight to our own execution, I was feeling hopeful. Tenebris had made a mistake!

A desperate plan began formulating in my head.

Despite the fact that we still had our collars and inhibitors, there were three of us and just two of the enemy ponies. Our legs were free to use. Sure, they had armor and weapons, but we outnumbered them! That should count for something, right? Maybe if we were lucky, we could take them out fast and escape!

I threw a quick glance to each of my friends, trying to guess if they were thinking the same way, but they were walking with their heads low. It seemed like they’d given up already, but somehow our impending doom only gave me the strength to resist.

Whatever, I was sure they’d still join me if I attacked our captors myself. We had nothing to lose anyway.

But I needed to wait until we got outside — it would be easier to escape on the streets than in a castle full of hostile ponies. I hung my head in a similar way to my friends, staring down on the floor to lull the guards into a false sense of superiority. Soon we were led through the back door to the lake beside the castle and the soldiers ordered us to stop.

They were still behind our backs, so I couldn’t see what they were doing.

“So…” one of the soldiers said. “How do you think we should kill them?”

“The boss said fast, so I suppose we should just slit their throats.”

The first soldier snorted. “Why do you always have to be so boring? We have three young mares in our possession and you want to waste them just like that?”

I flicked my ear nervously, though I had already understood which direction the funny one’s thoughts were going. His hoof caressed my flank, probably to demonstrate to his pal what he had meant. This was my cue to act!

With a furious neigh, I bucked blindly behind me, hitting something metallic by the sound of it. Then I quickly turned around to see the soldier stumbling back, though he appeared to be unharmed by my attack, thanks to his armor. The second one had already drawn his sword and prepared to cut me down in one swing, ignoring his friend’s fun suggestion.

I leaped back, barely avoiding the attack, and it was enough to bring Ruby and Starlight out of their limp state. Ruby quickly stomped on the soldier’s foreleg with the sword, which was stuck in the earth from his missed hit. He dropped it more out of surprise than from pain — his leg armor had protected him from any serious injury.

Ruby grabbed the sword for herself and the three of us backed up from the advancing soldiers. There was murder in their eyes — even the fun one looked at us as enemies that needed to be killed. Ruby’s sword kept them at a distance — even their armor wouldn’t save them from a stab at their unprotected heads.

The fun one unfortunately was a unicorn.

He stopped for a moment to activate his magic and Ruby’s sword appeared to get a life of its own, jumping wildly. While the unicorn was trying to force it out of her hoof grip, his disarmed friend picked this moment to attack.

I charged at him, taking a hit meant for Ruby to my muzzle, which started bleeding immediately. My head rang from his hoof punch, but I remained standing firm. It was totally worth it though — Ruby’s rebellious sword would cut her into pieces if she lost control even for a second.

While the soldier was distracted by me, Starlight jumped at him from the side. Her main attack missed his head and her following hits were pointless against his metal armor. Starlight wasn’t the best fighter without the help of her magic. The soldier turned around and shoved her with enough force to drop her to the ground.

I reared up, swinging my forelegs wildly, but the soldier just took a step backwards, avoiding all of my attacks. Damn it! At least it gave Starlight time to scramble away from him.

The fight felt like it was dragging out for a long time, even though I knew it couldn’t have been going on for more than thirty seconds at most. But even that was too much — the element of surprise was lost and the soldiers were gaining the upper hoof.

Only a miracle would save us at that point.

Suddenly, a rock swooped past my head and hit the unicorn straight in his horn. I cringed slightly, imagining the pain he must be feeling now, even though he deserved it. I looked back to see who’d helped us and saw a brownish pegasus flying straight at me!

“Duck!”

My eyes widened and I fell to the ground as the pegasus flew above, crushing their front hooves into the second soldier’s face. He got thrown backwards from the force of the punch and continued to lay on the ground motionless. I had no idea if he’d survived this, but earth ponies were pretty tough, so I hoped he had.

Ruby, having finally regained control of her sword, dashed to the stunned unicorn and raised her sword for a finishing blow. I watched in shock how she began the strike, but changed her mind at the last second and punched the guard with the hilt instead. It was enough to put him unconscious.

“Follow me!” our savior, a pegasus mare, yelled to us.

There was something familiar in her black mane and rough voice, but I had no time to reflect on that as we hastily followed her, leaving the castle behind. Even while galloping on hoof the pegasus was faster than either of us and we could barely keep up; though Ruby had it easier than me or Starlight.

We passed through Ponyville in a few minutes and stopped to rest only in the hills near the town, where we were out of sight. I dropped onto the ground and tried to take a breath — the fast gallop had exhausted me; Starlight was feeling the same way. Even Ruby herself was winded.

The pegasus mare barely broke a sweat.

“Thank you for saving us,” I said through the heavy panting.

“That’s what I do,” the blackmaned mare nodded. “It was foolish of you to break into the castle. What were you thinking?”

“We had to save our friends,” Starlight said, getting back on her hooves. “Though I admit, it could have gone better…”

“Did that changeling betray you?”

“No,” I stated firmly. “He was imprisoned just like the rest of us.”

“Still, it was reckless of you to bring the creature with you.”

“You kind of look familiar…” Ruby murmured thoughtfully.

Starlight gasped in recognition a moment later. “Daring Do!”

Completely bewildered, I gazed at the mare, who apparently was an adventure series character. Now that Starlight had said that, I noticed the similarities with the pony I had seen on the book cover, even though the mare in front of me had no clothes or even a hat on her and had her cutie mark covered in mud. But I had a feeling that wasn’t why she seemed familiar…

“You look exactly like Rose,” Ruby stated, examining her through narrowed eyes.

Daring Do flatted her ears and took a step back. “R-Rose? What are you talking about?”

It took me a moment to get what Ruby had meant, but then I remembered too. Rose, the mare who had foolishly jumped through the mirror we had found in the old ruins all those years ago and had returned disfigured with no cutie mark. If not for Morning Bright’s skills, she probably wouldn’t have survived. But she couldn’t really be Daring Do, could she?

“You are Rose!” exclaimed Ruby and jumped on Daring Do, tackling her onto the ground and hugging relentlessly. “Don’t you remember me?”

“Ruby?” she asked in surprise, as Ruby relaxed her grip a little.

“I’ve completely lost it now,” Starlight deadpanned, shaking her head at the whole display. “Are you Daring Do?”

I sympathized with her — my head was spinning too, trying to grasp the situation unfolding here. Daring Do was real and was actually somepony I knew from before. That sounded completely bonkers.

“Yes, I am Daring Do,” the pegasus confirmed, finally escaping from Ruby’s bear hug. “Though my birthname is Rose.”

“But Rainbow Dash told me that your real name is A.K. Yearling,” Starlight said in confusion.

Rose, or Daring Do, sighed heavily. “I asked Rainbow Dash not to reveal my identity…”

I drooped my ears. So Rainbow Dash was in on it too and both she and Starlight knew that Daring Do was real and hadn’t told me even after I had read all of her books. Nice.

“Let’s all just stop for a second and get this straight,” I intervened and everypony’s attention turned towards me. “You are Rose, my old friend from the expedition six years ago. You’ve become the famous writer A.K. Yearling and daring explorer Daring Do and had all those amazing adventures I’ve read about in your books, is that right?”

“Pretty much.”

“Wow.”

“Wait, your old friend?” Daring Do looked at me with recognition. “Are you…Sundae? I heard you died or something.”

“The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated,” I said with a feeling of deep satisfaction, having finally used this particular phrase. I loved famous quotes.

“Apparently,” Daring agreed. “No one really knew what had happened with you though.”

“I knew exactly what had happened,” said Ruby with a note of anger. “But nopony believed me when I blamed the Doctor.”

“The Doctor? Doctor Shade?”

I quickly told Daring Do the story of what had happened to me, skipping most of the small details, and how the Doctor was behind all of this, including his plans about Tartarus. Daring Do appeared interested to hear about Tartarus in particular.

“I’m too late then, damn it…”

“What do you mean?”

“I had learned that something bad was going to happen in Tartarus from my source, so I flew in to investigate,” Daring explained. “I flew over Ponyville yesterday when I noticed some strange armored ponies walking around the town and gathering the citizens in the main square. They looked nothing like the Royal Guards, so I disguised myself and went in to listen.

Then I saw Tenebris, as she introduced herself. She gave everypony a whole speech about how this town belongs to her now and that she’s the future queen of Equestria. After that, she and her friends settled in Twilight’s castle, waiting for something. I recognized her name though — Tenebris was the first pony to ever be locked in Tartarus. I’ve been watching the castle since and intervened when I saw you fighting.”

As soon as she said it, I finally remembered Tenebris. Of course! The infamous first prisoner that Starswirl the Bearded had personally locked in Tartarus a thousand years ago. There hadn’t been much information on her and her crimes that I had been able to find, but what it did tell me was that she had been an actual queen of the old Unicornia, before the founding of Equestria.

That didn’t matter for me at the moment, however. The fact that this pony had imprisoned our friends was my immediate concern. Our first attempt to save them had failed. Even worse — it had gotten even more of our friends captured and we had almost gotten killed in the process. We needed a new plan.

“What shall we do now?”

“Well, first we need to get rid of those damn collars and inhibitors,” said Starlight, pointing at the ring on her horn. “I feel powerless without my magic.”

I attempted to take my ring off, but failed, of course. If only it was so easy…

“How are we going to do that?” I asked.

“Those rings are high-grade stuff,” Starlight explained, drooping her ears. “So unless we get a key, we’ll need the help of a skilled enchanter to break them. Twilight could do that, but that’s not an option right now…”

“The police should have a way to remove those,” suggested Ruby, trying to sound cheerful. “Let’s visit them.”

Daring Do made a weird noise. “I don’t think that’s an option either. Tenebris blew up the police station first thing when she got here.”

It felt like a cold shard had pierced my heart. Of course, Detective Seeker was the only pony from Ponyville PD I knew personally, but she’d been very helpful to us in the past. Well, not really, but she did have the best intentions in mind and to think that she’d likely perished in the explosion, in the middle of the always peaceful Ponyville no less…That was truly jarring.

My friends were shocked as well.

“Does anypony know somepony in Ponyville who would help us with this issue?” I asked, suppressing the negative thoughts. Sadly, no one did.

“I can’t help you with those inhibitors, but at least let me remove your collars,” said Daring Do, taking out a lockpick from her saddlebag.

***

An hour later we sneaked back to Ponyville to watch over the castle. Once again, the ponies seemed to avoid us like the plague. I wondered what their problem was, until Daring Do revealed that Tenebris had threatened in her speech to destroy anypony who’d dare to help Twilight or any of her friends. And after she blew up the police building, the ponies took her threats very seriously.

At least, they were decent enough not to rat us out to Tenebris. That was my hope anyway as we walked through the streets openly, keeping close to the walls. There weren’t a lot of ponies on the streets to begin with — most seemed to be staying home, awaiting for Tenebris to be dealt with, as it usually happened with a threat like her.

“This is the place I stayed in,” Daring Do stopped and pointed at one of the houses. “A good view of the castle from the roof.”

She knocked and an old mare opened the door. Daring Do introduced us as her friends and told the mare we’d be staying in her house too. The old mare didn’t appear happy at the news. In fact, she paled like she had seen a ghost when she looked at us. She would have shut the door in our face if Starlight hadn’t stuck her hoof in the door frame.

“Listen, lady, I understand you’re scared of Tenebris, but if you and everypony else are so afraid to help, how do you suggest we’ll defeat her?”

The mare had no clear answer for that. “I…I just don’t want my house to be blown up…”

I guess I could understand her reluctance to help, but at the same time I was annoyed. When a superior enemy came to your doorstep, everypony should unite against the threat, not let a few threats make them cower in fear. That was the true pony way, not the cowardice I saw before me.

“Believe me, getting your house blown up is the least that will happen if we don’t stop Tenebris,” I said.

The mare sighed resentfully and finally let us in. “Why did do you have to pick my house to stay in…”

We ignored her mutterings and followed Daring Do to the attic. She was right — the castle could be seen clearly from the window here. The house we were in was positioned perpendicularly to it, so we were able to watch both the exits at once. An observer’s spot was set up by the window, with an old mattress and a spyglass Daring Do had left behind when she rushed to our rescue.

“So what exactly is our plan?” I asked her.

“Watch the castle until we come up with a better plan.”

“In the books you would usually just sweep in and kick everypony’s flank,” Ruby smiled.

Daring Do gave her a stare. “I’m not just sweeping in,” she said. “Well, maybe I am, but not without some thorough preparation first. I usually observe my opponent beforehoof to examine their strengths and weaknesses and come up with the best way to deal with them. You just experienced what would happen if you went in blindly.”

“Yeah,” Ruby drooped her ears.

“You saved us with no preparation,” I pointed out.

“Well, yes. Sometimes I make an exception. Like when three innocent ponies are about to be executed.”

I shuddered at the thought of what would have happened if Daring Do hadn’t appeared when she had. We would be dead or even worse. That funny stallion had had much more ambitious plans than just a simple execution…

“Thank you again.”

“You’re welcome.”

***

I had to admit, watching the castle was pretty boring. We spent a few hours in the attic, taking turns in gazing at it through the spyglass, but nothing exciting ever happened. No one got in or out during all that time. The two soldiers we had fought weren’t anywhere to be found either — they’d likely been taken inside the castle.

It was my turn, so I relentlessly watched it, admiring the crystal design of its exterior in the process. The magic behind the castle creation was indeed powerful if it had grown to such a magnificent thing in the matter of minutes. I wondered who had created those ancient spells — it obviously wasn’t a natural thing that would occur on its own.

Suddenly, a Pegasus flying towards the castle caught my attention. It became even more interesting when he landed on the castle balcony and walked inside. I alerted my friends to this new development, who were playing cards to kill the time, and they dropped the game immediately, coming to stand beside me. Unfortunately, Daring Do had only one spyglass and it was my turn, so…

“They’re leaving the castle,” I said after five more minutes passed.

We weren’t quite sure what Tenebris was planning to do, aside from putting fear in the heart of Ponyville’s citizens. She was obviously acting out in the open, so perhaps she was feeling confident enough to challenge the Princesses themselves. The Princesses were likely unaware of the threat yet, so it wasn’t in Tenebris’ interest to stick around Ponyville any longer, giving them the time to prepare.

Whoever that pegasus was, he put Tenebris’ plan in motion. The self-proclaimed queen walked confidently; Morning Bright and Doctor Shade following slightly behind. I noticed the familiar soldier limping behind the group with a bandaged head — he’d survived after all. It made me feel both relieved and disappointed.

The rest of their little group was guarding our captured friends, still in chains. In fact, their limbs had been chained now too, which was likely our fault. We had made the enemy more cautious. Marcus, Fluttershy, Sturdy Peak and even Spike — they looked unharmed so far, despite their sullen appearance.

“We should follow them,” said Starlight.

Daring Do nodded. “I agree, but you all need to wait here for now.”

“What?” Ruby asked, slightly offended. “You don’t think we’re good enough?”

“They’re looking for you,” she explained. “It would be easier for me to mix with the crowd and see what they’re up to. If they’re leaving the town, I’ll learn the direction they’re moving in and come back for you.”

“How can you just mix with the crowd? You’re Daring Do!”

Instead of answering, the mare searched inside her saddlebag and snatched a fake beard that she put on her face, giving her the look of a young stallion. A red cap added to the impression. I had to admit that even though the disguise was pretty simple, it rendered her unrecognizable, which was the whole point.

“What if you get caught too?”

“I’ll be careful,” Daring Do promised and left through the open window.

There was nothing left to do but wait again. I continued to follow Tenebris’ advance through the spyglass, of course, but I’d soon lost them behind the houses. I switched to watching Daring Do instead — she followed the procession, hopping from one roof to another. It wasn’t very inconspicuous, but she was the action hero herself, so I guess she knew what she was doing.

My ear swiveled, hearing some noise from afar. I immediately recognized the sound of the train approaching Ponyville. I couldn’t see it from our position — the station was in the opposite direction, but I doubted the two events were a coincidence.

Twenty minutes later Daring Do returned, confirming my guess.

“They’ve boarded the train,” she said, hovering just outside the window. “It’s going in Canterlot’s direction.”

“This is really bad,” Starlight said. “With all the weapons the Doctor was hoarding, he’s likely prepared a small army for her to lead. We should warn Celestia and Luna somehow. ”

“I can easily outrace the train and do that,” Daring Do stated confidently. “With Tenebris out of Ponyville, you can stay here safely.”

“We’re not going to stay here, Rose,” said Ruby, using her old name. “There’ll be a battle, I’m sure of it. Celestia and Luna are going to need all the help they can get.”

Starlight and I nodded in confirmation, though it was weird for me to hear Luna’s name next to Celestia’s. Her being good was still recent news for me, with all my memories of her being Nightmare Moon and all.

“You can’t use the train and it’s two days of trotting to Canterlot,” Daring Do warned us. “The whole situation will likely be sorted out by then.”

“I certainly hope so,” said Starlight.

***

Daring Do aka Rose raced to Canterlot, leaving us behind. The news about Tenebris’ departure spread fast and soon the ponies ghad athered on the streets. Nopony was celebrating, though — they understood that until Tenebris was defeated for good it was just a temporary relief.

As soon as we got outside, we were recognized and swarmed by a bunch of ponies who demanded some answers. It seemed like they weren’t going to let us go until we spilled the beans.

“Is it true that Princess Twilight and the rest have been captured?”

“Is Tenebris our new queen?!”

“We’re doomed!”

“Quiet!” Starlight finally bellowed; even without magic her voice suppressed everypony else’s.

The whole crowd became silent.

“Yes, Twilight and the rest have been captured and I won’t lie to you — the situation looks grim,” she said honestly. “Tenebris is coming to Canterlot now and she probably has an army to back her up. But all is not lost yet. Me and my friends are going to Canterlot to help and I ask any of you who can fight to do the same.”

Nopony interrupted the speech but as soon as it ended the ponies started to discuss it vividly. At least we were finally able to get past the crowd. With Tenebris out, we wanted to stack on some supplies from the castle before we walked to Canterlot and maybe find a way to remove our inhibitors. Twilight’s laboratory would likely have the tools we needed.

Our hopes were dashed due to such a trivial issue as a locked door.

Before leaving, Tenebris had apparently blocked it with her magic. Ruby bucked it with all of her impressive strength, but it wasn’t even dented. We quickly found a willing pegasus who tried to access the castle through one of the windows, but they were locked as well. The glass even survived a whole round of punches and kicks the pegasus gave it. With teleportation out of the question, the castle was out of our reach.

“Damn it,” Starlight punched at the door.

“I’m sure somepony in Ponyville would lend us the stuff we need for travel,” I suggested, patting Starlight on her withers.

“That’s not it,” she sighed. “I just hate this feeling of helplessness. I would blast this door apart if I had my magic…”

“I know, Starlight,” I assured her. “I feel the same way. But it’s only temporary.”

Starlight grunted in annoyance. Hopefully, at the whole situation, not at me.

We had to do as I said and ask for supplies around the town. Thankfully, the ponies understood the situation well and gave us what we needed for free — we had no money to pay them anyway. I was given a big saddlebag, likely used by some stallion before, loaded full of food and water for the road ahead.

The ponies were so generous that we ended up with more stuff than we actually needed, but at least we had a choice to pick only the most useful items. We intended to travel fast, so we shouldn’t carry heavy loads.

Mayor Mare approached us just before we left. She had an idea to start organizing a small volunteer force to go along with us, but the preparation were likely going to last until the evening as she admitted. We simply didn’t have the luxury of time to wait, though we asked her to send anypony who wanted to help after us anyway. There was only one road from Ponyville to Canterlot, so eventually they’d catch up with us if they hurried.

“Thank you, Ms. Mayor,” I told her.

With no further distractions, we finally left Ponyville.

At first the travel proceeded smoothly, but after a few hours of walking, my hooves became sore. The road we trotted on was pretty firm from all the traffic and it hurt more and more for me to make another step. Some good horseshoes would take care of my problem, but for all my time in Ponyville I hadn’t managed to get myself a set. Mostly because nopony had bothered to point out such an obvious thing to me and without my memories I had no idea I would even need them. Maybe if I’d spent more time walking around the town…

I glanced at Ruby’s legs. She was wearing some horseshoes, of course. They weren’t applied the same way as on Earth’s horses, obviously — a pony’s hoof was far too sensitive for that. I shuddered at the thought of hammering some nails into mine. No, instead a horseshoe was worn like a sandal. The shoe’s steel bow was fixed to a pony’s leg with straps and could be removed at any time.

Ruby stopped, having noticed my attention, and flexed her foreleg. “Like what you see?”

“N-no!” I blurted without thinking, blushing. “I mean, yes, it’s nice... But we kind of have a problem.”

“What problem?” Starlight asked, stopping too.

We were sitting at the edge of the road to get some rest, while I shared with them what was bothering me. Nopony had some spare horseshoes, sadly; I cursed myself for not thinking of asking for them in Ponyville. Now we couldn’t continue our journey at the same fast pace — I simply wouldn’t be able to keep up.

“Here, take mine,” Ruby said, taking off her horseshoes.

“Thank you, but it won’t solve anything,” I shook my head. “You’ll just get this problem instead of me.”

“No offense, but my hooves are much sturdier than yours,” Ruby smirked. “I’m an earth pony, remember?”

“Hard to forget when you point it out all the time,” Starlight rolled her eyes.

“Well, fine.”

I took the shoes that she offered me in my mouth and attempted to put them on my hooves. It was harder than I thought without magic; I had no idea how Ruby managed to do it on a daily basis. In the end, she couldn’t bear to watch me suffering like that and helped.

“Thanks.”

We continued on our path after a quick snack.

I kept an eye on Ruby as we walked in case she had overestimated her hooves, but she looked comfortable so far. We were walking at a pretty good speed now that I didn’t have to hold back. Canterlot’s mountain looked big even from our position, but I knew it was actually still an entire day’s gallop away.

If we keep up our current speed, then we’ll reach the city by tomorrow evening, considering we would have to stop for the night. Each of us was pretty tired after today’s events — getting captured, fighting, escaping — so getting some rest was a must. But the night was still at least an hour away, judging by the sun which was hanging just over the horizon.

Soon, we noticed a pony on the road in front of us. She was still pretty far, but she was moving more slowly than us, so we were catching up. As we got close, she suddenly turned around to face us, wielding a wooden club in her magic. I recognized the mare at once.

“Detective Seeker!” Ruby exclaimed first. “I thought you were dead.”

The red mare recognized me and Ruby as well and lowered her weapon. “Ah, it’s you. Well, as you can see, I’m pretty much alive.”

“We were told the police station was blown up,” I said, looking her over in case of injuries. “How did you manage to survive?”

“I wasn’t inside at the moment, obviously,” Seeker explained and her face fell. “But a lot of good ponies were…”

“Tenebris will pay for that,” Starlight reassured her grimly. “She’s going to Canterlot now and so are we.”

Seeker raised her eyebrows at that. “I’m going there too for reinforcements. I was hiding in Ponyville for a while after she blew up the station, trying to rally some resistance, but those ponies… They’re afraid to do anything against her.”

“They wouldn’t have a chance in a direct confrontation,” I said. “But they’re forming a volunteer force to send to Canterlot now. We figured that Tenebris is going to attack it with her army.”

“Her army?”

I quickly brought the Detective up to speed about Tenebris, the Doctor and all. She whistled at the end of my speech. “We’re in some deep shit.”

“Not if we stop her in Canterlot.”

“Well, count me in,” Seeker stated. “We may as well stick together. But what exactly are you planning to do once we arrive?”

We exchanged a glance. None of us had actually planned anything. We figured that we’d come up with something on the spot, which was smart since we knew nothing about what would be going on in Canterlot by then. Daring Do will warn Celestia, hopefully, but would the Princess have the time to mobilize the Guard before Tenebris and her forces struck? There were too many variables to take into account…

“We’ll just go to the palace, I guess, and report to the Princess,” Starlight shrugged. “Then we’re going to beat Tenebris and send her back to Tartarus.”

“I’m gonna kill her if I have the chance,” murmured Ruby menacingly.

I chose to ignore such disturbing words. I doubted she’d actually succeed with the killing part, even if she by some miracle managed to get a chance. With the kind of power Tenebris had, only Celestia or Luna would be able to defeat her in direct combat. Discord would too, for that matter, but he was yet to make an appearance.

At this point, I wouldn’t mind even his help despite my deep mistrust of the ancient creature. Fluttershy and the rest considered him good enough to allow him to roam free around Equestria. After all, if even Nightmare Moon could be reformed, why not Discord? So after some consideration, I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, instead of dismissing the possibility out of hoof as I did before.

That was irrelevant to the matter at hoof, though.

“Will you remove our inhibitors?” Starlight asked the Detective; her eyebrows raised in hope.

“I can try.”

She came closer and cast some spells, examining the ring on Starlight’s horn. She fiddled with it for a few minutes. I knew I shouldn’t get too excited at having my magic back, but I still drooped my ears in disappointment when Seeker shook her head. As for Starlight, she looked almost crushed — she was taking her lack of magic much harder than me.

“I’m sorry, but these are more advanced than what we had at the station,” Seeker spread her hooves apologetically. “It doesn’t look like a standard model at all. If you attempt to remove those without having the special instruments, you can risk damaging your horn.”

“Damaging?” I frowned. “Making a device like that is pretty cruel, even for the police.”

“Our devices are much safer,” Seeker retorted, sounding slightly offended. “I told you, it’s not standard.”

“What else can you expect from the Doctor?” Ruby spit.

“Well, I’m sure we’ll find a way to get rid of those in Canterlot,” I said, watching at the sun setting on the horizon. “But we need to get some rest. We won’t reach it today.”

“There is an inn along the road,” Seeker said. “I was planning to stay there for the night; there is no point in sleeping outside.”

It was a smart idea, though I didn’t mind sleeping another night on some nice grassy field. The feeling of the soft grass tickling my body through my coat was amazing. I could even sleep closer to Ruby — the feeling of her coat against mine was ten times better than the grass… I shook my head, getting rid of the tiredness-induced thoughts and let out a big yawn.

“Let’s find this inn faster, I don’t want to carry this sleepy head around,” Ruby booped me gently and smirked.

“I’m not that sleepy,” I said, batting her hoof away. “Not that I would mind riding you…”

I gasped and covered my mouth, having realized that I said the last thought out loud. Ruby giggled and I felt my face getting very, very red. I hastily trotted past her, staring at the ground in shame, but she put a hoof on my back.

I looked into her smiling eyes and she winked. “I wouldn’t mind that either, you know.”

It was too much for me! I reared up with a neigh and galloped forth as fast as I could, despite feeling so tired a minute ago. It was so embarrassing to make such a slip in front of everypony! I ran for at least a mile before I finally stopped and waited at the side of the road for my friends to catch up.

Some other thoughts took hold of my mind after I calmed down.

So, she wouldn’t mind it either, huh? Ruby was my best friend, no doubt, but lately I was starting to feel something else towards her. Something similar to what I had felt for Marcus once, but much stronger in this case. And I knew it wasn’t just the lingering effects of the heat I had passed through recently.

Despite all of her jokes, I wasn’t sure if Ruby felt the same way about me, so I had been afraid to admit it until now. And I still was. What if I made an actual attempt to get seriously close to her and it turned out she wasn’t being serious? I would die of shame for sure then.

As my friends approached, we pretended that nothing had happened by a silent agreement. There was a serious task ahead of us and everypony understood that. It was neither the time nor the place to talk about our feelings.

But maybe if we found a room to stay for the night…

***

I didn’t know how the others fared, but I was barely able to sustain our pace by this point. I was relieved to finally see some lights in the distance — the sun had set about an hour ago, though the moonlight was bright enough for us to see the road clearly.

“That’s the inn,” announced Seeker.

“It’s so far from Ponyville,” I complained, panting.

“Most ponies prefer to travel by the railroad,” Seeker explained to me. “But there are more inns the closer you get to Canterlot.”

“We’re not going to need them,” Starlight cut in. “Tomorrow we won’t stop until we are in Canterlot.”

I fully agreed with Starlight, despite how tired I felt at the moment. If the train had departed on schedule, Tenebris was already in Canterlot. I had no illusions about our little group’s contribution against Tenebris, however. Starlight was great at magic, sure, but Tenebris was much more powerful. On the other hoof, every bit of help counted.

The inn we were approaching was called Warm Hearth as told by the big glowing letters on the large billboard. As for inn itself — the two-storey building was worn out by time, but was still looking good. Seeker opened the door and walked in first, with us following behind.

Nopony but the sleeping innkeeper was in the room. He lifted his head from the bar table and stared at us sleepily. “Welcome to Warm Hearth, my friends!”

The innkeeper, an old earth pony, looked excited to see us. Considering how empty the place was, we were likely his only clients today.

“We need a room with four beds,” Starlight said, grabbing a small pouch with coins with her mouth and dropping it before the innkeeper.

“Sorry, fillies, I don’t have a room like that,” the older stallion shrugged.

“And we don’t have the money for more than one room,” countered Starlight.

The stallion considered her words for a brief moment. “I suppose I can let you move some beds from the other rooms — they’re all empty anyway. But you would have to put them back in the morning.”

The deal was made and the owner led us upstairs, where the rooms were. Among us only Seeker could use magic, but she wasn’t strong enough to lift the bed all by herself, so we had to help her move it.

After we had finished with the second bed, Ruby suddenly booped me. “That’s enough. Sunny and I are going to share the bed for tonight,” she said with a playful wink.

I blushed, but didn’t argue. I was even glad, though I knew we wouldn’t do anything besides just sleeping. Even if we all weren’t exhausted — there were two other ponies in the room aside from us and I wasn’t into that kind of thing.

“Whatever,” Starlight rolled her eyes.

Seeker pretended to ignore all of this and went straight to her bed. Ruby and I picked one too and settled on it together. The bed was just wide enough for two ponies to lie close to each other, which was a good thing considering the situation. Ruby fell asleep pretty fast, but I couldn’t do it so easily — my imagination was practically running amok, picturing things that made my breath quicken. Was it getting hot?

In the end, though, I fell asleep too.

***

A noise from downstairs awoke me some time later. I untangled myself from Ruby, who had somehow ended up on top of me while we were sleeping, trying to ignore the pleasant feeling of her warm body rubbing against mine. I put my ear to the floor — there were definitely a lot of voices down there. It was likely just some travelers, but considering what had been happening lately, my mind wasn’t put at ease by that explanation.

The darkness outside told me it was still the middle of the night. I suppressed a yawn; I wasn’t feeling rested yet. What normal pony would arrive at such a late hour?

I wasn’t so concerned as to wake the others though, so I carefully sneaked out of the room alone and approached the staircase. A sense of relief washed over me when I peeked from the corner to see the familiar green pony from Ponyville among the small group — it must be the volunteers that Mayor Mare had promised us!

“Hello, everypony,” I descended the stairs, waving at them in greeting.

“Sundae! I knew you’d stay here,” Lyra smiled at me. “We’re all who agreed to go on such a short notice.”

I flickered my gaze onto the ponies — just the six of them, including Lyra. Bon Bon wasn’t here, so she’d likely stayed in Ponyville. It wasn’t a big group, but it was something. Of course, I hoped that it was a false alarm and Tenebris would already be defeated by the time we reached the city, but I had a feeling it wouldn’t be that simple.

The ponies were wearing some simple armor that looked like it had been dug out of some old basement. Their armament wasn’t impressive either — some ragtag swords and pointy sticks. I wasn’t even sure if they were sharp enough to hurt somepony. I didn’t know anyone from their group personally like Lyra, but I gave them a friendly nod nevertheless.

“Just to warn you, I don’t have any money here,” the innkeeper said. I glanced around in surprise — I hadn’t noticed him in the room at first.

“Oh no, we’re not the outlaws, we’re the heroes!” Lyra stated cheerfully.

The innkeeper rose out from behind the bar table. “Then I suppose you’d want to stay for the night.”

Lyra, who appeared to be the unspoken leader of the group, put the bits on the table. The innkeeper and I led them upstairs to the rooms that still had beds in them and I returned into my own to finish my slumber. Thankfully, everypony there was still sound asleep, so I easily reclaimed my place by Ruby’s side. The mare mumbled something inconspicuous and I froze, but she didn’t wake up.

I slept through the rest of the night like a little filly and got up along with my friends, feeling well-rested for once. After doing the morning routine, we went downstairs together to find Lyra, who was munching on something, while sitting with her back to us.

“Lyra?” Starlight asked in surprise. Oh right, I had forgotten to warn my friends about the volunteers’ arrival. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, hello!” she turned to face us. “Didn’t Sundae tell you?”

I folded my ears in shame, while Lyra quickly explained her arrival.

“That’s awesome!” exclaimed Ruby after she had finished.

By that time, the other volunteers had descended from the stairs one by one, gathering in the room. The innkeeper had appeared from the side door, having clearly been woken up by all the commotion, and was swarmed with meal orders. Before he could get to work, however, Starlight intervened and ordered him to just make some quick salads — we were in a hurry.

The ponies were saddened by such a turn of events — some were had been hoping for a hot meal — but agreed to it without much of an argument. After all, they understood what was at stake here. Lyra generously paid for us, so we got a portion of freshly made salad as well. The innkeeper was a pretty decent cook; too bad I couldn’t give him a tip.

It was still early in the morning when we left the inn behind us.

***

Even from afar it was obvious that something bad was happening in Canterlot. Tall columns of smoke were rising over the city on the mountain. We exchanged worried glances between one another when we first saw them; my hopes of Tenebris being easily defeated were literally getting smoked.

At some point a giant magic shield sprang to life around the Royal Castle. Lyra’s chatty mood disappeared after that — she shared with us that it reminded her of a traumatic experience she’d had under similar circumstances. There had been an invasion too back then that had required conjuring a shield like that and she had been right in the thick of it, being hypnotized by the changeling queen herself.

By the time we’d gotten close enough for the mountain to loom over us, it was evening again. We’d had a few stops along the way, but overall we had spent the whole day trotting with a steady speed, so everypony was weary. However, I was anxious and kept myself on guard for anything.

“This is a guard’s post,” Seeker said, pointing at the building at the distance. “We can ask them what’s happening up there.”

Starlight nodded. “Of course. Be ready for anything though.”

We walked towards the barrier blocking the road. The first sign of trouble was the lack of the Equestrian flag on the top of the building — there was a vacant flagpole instead. I silently cursed when I saw a couple of ponies in gray armor, standing near the barrier and silently watching our approach.

“Sup, folks,” one of them greeted us, while his buddy continued with his creepy glaring.

“Hello, officers,” Lyra smiled widely, like she had just met her best friends. “What’s up with the new uniform?”

“Haven’t you heard, lady?” the pony grinned back. “New queen in town.”

My heart fell — did that mean Tenebris had won? That was too horrible to contemplate. The other ponies in our group shifted uncomfortably upon hearing the news, but Lyra kept her smile on her face.

“Is that so? What happened to the Princesses?”

The pony glanced up at the city above us. “They’re hiding in their palace, but the queen will smoke them out eventually,” he looked back at us, his smile disappearing. “Anyway, I guess I’m supposed to ask you some questions. State your business in the city!”

“Well, you can say that we’re here to help the Princesses,” the next second the guard fell to the ground, being hit on the head with Lyra’s club.

The other one dropped his weapon after Lyra faced him next — he probably had no desire to go against all of us at once. A pegasus we hadn’t noticed before took off from the roof of the building, flying straight up, but Lyra and Seeker shot him down with their spells. They caught the pegasus before he hit the ground.

We tied the unfortunate soldiers up and carried them inside the small building. Putting the two unconscious ones to the side, Starlight addressed the remaining captive.

“Now, tell us exactly what is happening in Canterlot.”

The pony sighed. “This guy over there has already told you everything. Your Princesses are going down. You and your band are better off if you join the new Queen instead.”

“We’re not a band—” Lyra retorted, but Starlight made her a gesture to be quiet.

“I want to know exactly what happened. Tell me what you did from the beginning.”

“Fine…” the pony spilled the beans without any further encouragement.

At the same time as we had been sleeping in the inn peacefully, Tenebris and the Doctor’s strategically placed soldiers had made their move. The Guard had been mobilizing already, having suspected that something was going on, but most of them were still at their own homes with only a small number guarding the barracks. The pony in front of us was part of the group who had easily overcome their defense and burned the place down, destroying all the equipment they couldn’t take.

He didn’t know how everything had gone in other parts of the city, except for the end result. As the pony assured us, he’d had no idea about what was going to happen at all until this very night when his boss ordered him and his friends to suit up and prepare for the upcoming coup.

“So by the morning we were controlling most of the city, except for the palace, so us three were sent down here to see who approaches the city,” the pony finished his story.

Well, that was definitely bad news, but it wasn’t hopeless. The Princesses were still controlling the castle at least and this guy could be overestimating his side success just to scare us off. Nevertheless, the whole situation looked grim.

Starlight turned to us with a look of determination. “Our plan is still the same — get into the castle and find a way to help.”

“But there must be a reason why the Princesses haven’t dealt with Tenebris yet,” Ruby suggested. “What if she’s too strong even for them?”

“No, it can’t be,” Starlight shook her head in denial. “Sure, she’s strong, but not strong enough to compare against the two alicorns.”

Despite her seeming confidence, I was having a hard time accepting her words. For that matter, I could see that Starlight was doubting them too inside. I was sure she had the same doubts as me — she was there both when Tenebris had captured Twilight herself and when she had captured us. Of course, I had never gone against an alicorn before, so I couldn’t really compare their strengths…

“Oh, I heard the Queen and her elite guards kicked your Princesses’ pretty asses,” chuckled the guard.

“You won’t insult the Princesses, dog!” Starlight’s hoof sent the pony flying to the floor along with the chair he was sitting on.

I frowned upon her harsh way of dealing with our prisoner, but said nothing. The pony had kind of asked for that anyway. But now he was knocked out cold and we couldn’t probe him for more information…

“The main gate to the city is probably guarded too,” Seeker pointed out.

That was a problem indeed. We were lucky this time, but the main gate sounded pretty serious. Its defenses would definitely be stronger, so it was foolish to count on brute force to get past. However, a plan began formulating in my head as I looked over the unconscious enemies. I approached one of them and started to unbuckle his armor off him.

“We can disguise as their friends,” I explained my action to the surprised ponies.

“That could work, I guess,” Starlight nodded. “But somepony else should wear this armor. We both still have inhibitors — that would just look weird. We’re going to pretend to be the prisoners instead.”

“That will work only if they don’t know the ponies stationed here,” Lyra warned us cautiously.

“Why do we need to disguise ourselves anyway?” Ruby asked. “Can’t we just take them out like we did here?”

I would answer the question, but I was trying to untie a belt with my mouth and hoof, which was going rather poorly, so Lyra explained instead. “The main gates are likely closed by them. We can’t just force our way in.”

Then she gently pushed me to the side from my struggling and easily unbuckled the armor herself. Lyra lifted it up in her magic and compared it to herself, but the set was obviously stallion-sized. Good thing we had some of them in our little group — they would have to play the role of our captors.

We got only three sets of armor. The ones who were going to pretend to be the prisoners, took their own armor off and packed them away, but made sure the weapons were easy to reach. We were ready to go now, except for the issue of what to do with the enemy ponies we had knocked out.

“Let’s just leave them here tied up,” I suggested. “Somepony is bound to find them soon, so they’ll be fine.”

“The question is if we want them to be fine…” Starlight slowly said.

I glared at her, but she just shrugged. “They’ve committed treason anyway.”

I understood what she was suggesting we should do, but I didn’t want to become a killer. These ponies had likely made a mistake in joining the wrong side — they didn’t have to die because of it. Of course, they’d get punished by the law later, but we weren’t the law.

The others seemed to think the same way, so we went with my suggestion in the end.

After that issue was settled, we began our long climb to Canterlot. The road went around the mountain, gradually leading up to the city. The railroad was right beside it — how much easier our path would have been if we’d used the train… Too bad the train had been taken by Tenebris.

The higher we went, the lighter the air became. I could see the countryside around the mountain and, if I really tried, Ponyville itself far in the distance. I silently paid tribute to the ancient ponies who’d built Canterlot in the first place — it had taken a lot of work to carry all the building materials so high up the mountain and a lot of magic to prevent the city itself from crumbling.

Finally, we reached the final stretch of the road with Canterlot ahead of us. The sun would be already set by this time, but I could still see it from so high on the mountain. I suddenly realized that the fact that the sun and moon were maintaining their cycle could tell us that the two Princesses were still okay, at least.

“It’s closed as I thought,” Seeker said, pointing at the gate.

I nodded and we continued to follow the three stallions that were leading us. I gazed onto the ground, playing my role, and patiently waited until we got close. A pony in gray armor looked at us from the tower above the gate.

“What in Tartarus are you three doing here, you idiots?” he bellowed at our stallions. “You’re supposed to be our rear guard. Who are those?”

I didn’t like where this questioning was going, so I decided to expand my role of submitted prisoner to a more active one.

“We were just passing by!” I screamed for the enemy soldier to hear me. “But those idiots caught us for some reason!”

My friends glanced at me in confusion and the stallion looked back at me, unsure of what to do. My plan was to lure the enemy into opening the gate for us, but I didn’t have the time to share it with the others. I just hoped it worked.

“No one told you to grab every passer-by” the guard on the tower raged and then added something, most likely an insult, under his nose.

He disappeared out of our view and a minute later the big gate opened up and he, along with a few of his friends, came out to personally punish his dumb subordinates. At least, that what he thought. He had no idea it was a trap.

The bandit seemed to get suspicious when he got close, but it was too late for him. Our ponies grabbed their weapons and quickly surrounded the enemy, forcing them to give up without much of a fight. Each was given a hefty bump to the head to render them unconscious and we rushed through the open gate in case there were more enemies waiting.

Unfortunately, there was one.

Before anypony could react, he dashed at us from behind the corner, wielding a sword and sliced at the first pony he saw — Lyra. She yelped, jumping back, but she already had a deep gash on her side. Flood started to flow out of the wound and Ruby and I hastily ran towards the falling mare. I gaped at her horrible wound in shock for a moment before Ruby snapped me out with a slap.

I could see that most of our comrades were shocked by the sight too as we hurried to apply some bandages to Lyra. The enemy would have used this distraction to his advantage, but an enraged Starlight jumped at him from the side, kicking the sword out of his hooves and punching at his helmeted head repeatedly. At some point, the helmet was knocked off, but Starlight didn’t stop with her relentless assault.

The pony could only back down from such a fury until one lucky hit got through his defense and put him on the ground. Before he could get up, Starlight reared up and landed her front hooves onto his open neck with a sickening crunch. She stared in shock at what she’d done — it didn’t look good for the fallen stallion.

“I don’t feel very good,” Lyra whispered, switching my attention back to her.

I held her still, while Ruby applied the bandage to stop the bleeding. The others surrounded us, watching in concern.

“Damn it,” Starlight stomped on the paved ground. “If I had my magic, that wouldn’t have happened!”

Lyra lost her consciousness now, which was a bad sign in my opinion, but at least we had managed to secure the wound. She was still breathing, but I didn’t know for sure how dangerous the wound was. It ran almost the whole length of her barrel, so it wasn’t just a scratch like some tough heroes liked to claim.

“We need to get to the Royal Palace,” Starlight said. “Take her and let’s hurry.”

We didn’t bother to tie up the surviving enemy troops and just went ahead, leaving the gate wide open. Before we left, I checked the pony that Starlight had fought, and drooped my ears when I confirmed that he was truly dead. I didn’t blame Starlight. In fact, I was even glad that he got what he deserved…

I shook my head to get rid of the disturbing thoughts and looked around for his weapon. His bloody sword was lying nearby and I picked it up clumsily. It was made for ponies to hold in a hoof grip, but I’d never been trained to do it. It wasn’t easy to fight on three legs while waving a sword around. But since I couldn’t use my magic, then the sword would have to do.

I hurried to catch up with the rest, tucking the sword on my saddlebag. Lyra was being carried on an improvised stretcher between the two stallions. The streets were empty, which was weird for a city like Canterlot, even this late in the evening. The few ponies that I noticed quickly disappeared from our view, most likely scared by the gray armor our ponies were still wearing.

Luckily, the Royal Palace wasn’t far away from the main gate. The orange-colored forcefield around the Palace glowed with intensity, making the deep evening seem like it was day. Thanks to that, we noticed the blockade on the street leading to the palace early. It consisted of some broken mess of things thrown in the middle of the road as a makeshift barricade and was guarded by a group of enemy soldiers.

We turned to the adjacent street, but the situation repeated itself there. I realized that each street leading to the Palace was likely blocked. It wasn’t that surprising in retrospect — it was logical that Tenebris would want to confine the remaining resistance in one place, but it raised some serious issues for us. For example, how were we going to get through them?

I was concerned about Lyra’s condition. She was dying while we were gallivanting here on the streets!

“I have a plan,” said Starlight confidently; I looked at her in hope. “There are just five ponies at each post. We’re going to fight our way in.”

My ears drooped at hearing her plan. I honestly didn’t like it. The others’ reactions were similar to mine. However, nopony offered an alternative. If the only way to the castle was through the enemy line, then it was the way we were going to take! I pictured for a moment how I would run towards the enemy and he would easily outmaneuver my weak attacks and stab me like Lyra…

Damn those inhibitors!

But I was ready. Lyra’s life depended on our success, I tried to banish the thoughts that somepony else may get hurt while we fought the enemy. We knew that the situation may be bad in there, so we wouldn’t turn back now when our fears had turned out to be truth.

“That’s a dumb plan,” a horribly familiar voice sounded from behind us. “But I have a better one.”

I jumped up and turned myself in the air to face Doctor Shade himself, who was approaching us with some thin-looking pegasus next to him. There was some unconscious mare lying on the Doctor’s back, but I didn’t know who she was.

I realized inside that it was over for sure now. The Doctor’s henchponies had likely surrounded us and were waiting for a signal. I glanced onto the roofs, seeing nopony yet, but they could be hiding just behind the edges. Despite the odds, I raised my sword and we all prepared to fight for our lives…But the Doctor just stood there with a weird expression on his face.

“I understand that you see me as your mortal enemy, but our goals are similar at the moment,” Shade said slowly.

His words took me completely by surprise. “Our goals?”

“Unleashing Tenebris may have been the biggest mistake of my life,” the Doctor said with a sigh. “She…She’s not the pony I thought she was. I will help you to stop her.”

Part IV - Chapter 17: A Change of Heart

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Chapter 17: A Change of Heart

3 days ago.

Tenebris, Shade and Bright stood outside of the Tartarus gate, observing the field. The remaining soldiers were helping the wounded. A smile touched the dark mare’s lips — she was enjoying the sweet, fresh air of the wild forest.

The air of freedom.

Despite being locked up for a thousand years, her magical prowess remained unrivaled. Even the prodigy of this age, Twilight Sparkle – the Element of Magic and Celestia’s personal student – couldn’t stop her. She and her friends tried their best to accomplish that, but failed miserably. Now they had been thrown into Tenebris’ own cell in Tartarus.

“What do you plan to do with the Princess?” Shade inquired.

Tenebris turned her attention at her savior; her smile slowly disappearing. She may have tolerated the pony’s informality while her freedom depended on his actions, but no more. Even though Shade was her descendant, he was a mere earth pony and no earth pony was worthy enough to talk with her like that.

“I am your Queen, Nightfall Shade, and you will show me the proper respect,” she reprimanded the stallion. “As for Princess Twilight…She and her friends will remain in Tartarus for the time being. They may be useful in the future.”

“I’m sorry, my Queen,” Shade bowed his head. “But one of her friends has managed to escape.”

Tenebris nodded. “I know that. The unicorn who saved her was most impressive,” she glanced at Bright, who had been silent so far, “Even stronger than you, that mare…”

Bright shifted uncomfortably — he didn’t appreciate this jab at his abilities, even if what she said was true. If not for Tenebris’ help, that mare, Starlight, would have beaten him. He refrained from making any comments, however.

“You mentioned that Twilight has her own castle in the nearest town?” Tenebris asked, looking at Shade for confirmation. After he nodded, she continued, “Good. We will seize that castle and wait for those runaways there.”

Shade raised his eyebrows.

“But why wait, my Queen?” he asked. “We can go to Canterlot immediately. The element of surprise is on our side.”

“I will not go to Canterlot on hoof, Nightfall,” Tenebris said coldly. “Despite being in Tartarus, I’ve heard a lot about Equestria and its progress. I know that there are trains, which can transport you over large distances with speeds faster than a pegasus flight.”

Shade wasn’t sure what to think. On the one hoof, they’d definitely get to Canterlot faster by train, but on the other, such an action could hardly be considered sneaky. Their enemies would learn about their advance beforehoof and send their ponies to deal with them, which would interfere with his plan, built on acting in the shadows.

“It would be wise to hide ourselves for a little longer, my Queen,” Shade said in the end.

Tenebris shook her head with a snort. “There are no more reasons to hide, Nightfall. Send your servants a signal to attack everywhere, save for Canterlot. This city I want to deal with personally.”

It wouldn’t be wise to oppose Tenebris, so Shade had to accept her course of action. After all, she was the boss now. He beckoned for a messenger and gave him the necessary orders. As the pegasus was about to take off, Tenebris addressed him personally.

“Bring a train to Ponyville for me, servant,” said Tenebris. “I will be waiting here.”

The pegasus scratched his head in confusion, but he was too scared to ask for clarification. What did she mean — bring a train? Was he supposed to capture one? It was a bold open move — hijacking a train. He wasn’t sure his boss, the Spider, would approve. He flickered his eyes to him, standing to the side, but he remained silent.

“Your Majesty, there is no need to capture the train,” Bright explained instead. “They come and go on a regular schedule. If you want to use the train, we can simply wait for one.”—

Tenebris frowned. “I admit, my knowledge of the modern world is limited to what the Keeper told me. I will trust you on that matter, Morning Bright. “You—,” she looked at the awaiting messenger, “—go now.”

“Uh, should I hijack the train or not?” the pegasus forced out the question.

Tenebris’ white glowing eyes bored directly into his soul and he gulped.

“No, you idiot!” Shade roared at him. “Go and do your job.”

The pegasus finally brought himself together and flew up into the sky. Tenebris watched the pegasus until he disappeared among the clouds, and then switched her attention to Shade.

“You should train your servants better,” she commented, causing the Doctor to grit his teeth. “Now prepare yourself. I will teleport us to the edge of this forest.”

The Doctor nodded, showing no surprise. Teleportation over long distances was near impossible — the further you went, the more energy you needed for the spell. At least, that’s what Bright had explained to him once; Shade himself obviously had no practical knowledge, being an earth pony and all.

But if somepony had proved to have mana in abundance, it was Tenebris.

He gathered his soldiers in the next few minutes. Only six out of a dozen of them, including the departed messenger, had survived the fight, and half of them were wounded in some manner. However, Bright fixed up most of their small wounds, so everypony was ready to fight.

If Shade was being honest with himself, his party had won only thanks to their advanced armor and Tenebris’ help. He didn’t like the implications it had on the greater scheme of things. On the other hoof, the Guards had taken them by surprise; he would pay them back with the same coin soon.

As the party gathered around Tenebris, she lit up her horn and closed her eyes, concentrating on the task at hoof. The next moment, the whole group disappeared in a white flash and, after a second of disorientation, Shade found himself standing on a green pasture a few hundred feet from the forest’s border. A thin layer of frost was covering the grass under his hooves — the aftermath of Tenebris’ magic.

Tenebris shuddered slightly and Shade wondered if the Queen had overextended herself after all, but she quickly took her body under control. Her eyes narrowed when she noticed him watching, but he didn’t turn away. He could look at his Queen as much as he wanted — he deserved that right.

The teleportation saved them a few hours of walking through the dangerous forest, though Shade doubted that anything in it could actually hurt Tenebris. Even alone, she could blow up a whole pack of timberwolves to smithereens.

***

Ponyville wasn’t very far from here.

They found the road to the town with no trouble. Tenebris led the procession as they entered the small town; she barely gave its inhabitants a passing glance. Most of the ponies seemed to understand that something wasn’t right and kept out of her way. Not all of them were that smart though — a couple of ponies in police caps were blocking Tenebris’ way.

“Hold it right there,” the police pony ordered.

Shade sighed. What were these two idiots thinking? They had no chance against the whole party, even if Tenebris wasn’t with them. He wondered how Tenebris would deal with those fools.

The Queen stopped some distance from the policeponies and the rest followed her example. She burrowed her eyes into the two ponies, who shook under her gaze, but remained standing.

“Who are you—” the officer began, but Tenebris interrupted him rather rudely by throwing him and his partner against the wall with such a force that tiny cracks appeared around the point of impact.

“How dare you stand in the way of your new Queen, pony?”

The pony didn’t answer; his eyes wide open from shock and pain. After a few seconds of silence, Tenebris released him and both of the officers dropped to the ground. They quickly scrambled away, abandoning their dropped caps and batons. Tenebris didn’t stop them.

“Were those the local wardens?” she asked Shade.

He nodded. “You could say that, my Queen. They’re the Police Force.”

Tenebris appeared satisfied with his answer. She turned her gaze towards a thin crowd of ponies, who were dumb enough to stay and gape at her from afar, and grabbed a random one in her magic. The others finally understood the danger they were in and scattered with panicked screams.

The unlucky mare was levitated in front of Tenebris. She wailed in absolute terror, twitching and trying to escape the magic embrace, but to no avail. She was a simple earth pony, so she couldn’t even use magic; not that it would help… An annoyed grimace flickered on Tenebris’ face.

“Silence, pony,” she cast some spell and the mare’s mouth literally froze, cutting most of the sounds from her. “Show me where the barracks of your Police are,” she ordered the poor mare, putting her back on the ground.

The pony didn’t even try to run, realizing the futility of such an action. She whimpered quietly and, on trembling legs, led Tenebris and the group to the Ponyville PD. Soon, the building of the Police Station was in sight and the mare pointed at it from afar.

“T-that’s it,” she squeaked.

With a regal wave of hoof, Tenebris dismissed the mare. The pony hurried to hide herself from view. Shade had some guesses as to what Tenebris was about to do, but the result exceeded even his wildest expectations. She powered up her horn and shot a crushing wave of magic at the wooden building. It held against it for a few seconds and then crumbled like a house of cards, with pieces of debris flying in every direction.

Their group was covered by Tenebris’ shield, of course, but some pony who was just passing by got a shard stuck in his foreleg. Tenebris watched as he ran away screaming in pain, completely unconcerned. Shade even noticed a tiny smile flickering on her face… Was she enjoying the chaos that she was causing?

Shade had served her faithfully for all those years not only because she was his ancestor, but because he believed she would be a better ruler than Celestia. Equestria was stagnating under her thousand-year-old reign and even Princess Luna’s return and Twilight Sparkle’s ascension didn’t bring any much needed improvements. A strong and decisive Queen like Tenebris was exactly what Equestria needed.

At least that’s what Shade used to think.

He pushed the doubts out of his mind with a force of will. Tenebris was just excited to be able to use her power after being locked up for so long. That was it. She would come to her senses soon enough and be the responsible ruler he expected her to be.

While he was thinking about that, Tenebris, having made sure that nopony was trying to approach the burning ruins of PPD, turned around and went in the castle’s direction. At least no guide was needed for that, as the crystal castle could be seen from any part of Ponyville, being taller than anything ever built here.

They were about halfway there when Tenebris looked at Shade and ordered, “Gather up everypony in this village. I wish to address my new subjects.”

Shade redirected her order to one of his soldiers and they left to execute the orders. Only Shade and Bright remained by the Queen’s side.

They approached the castle and Shade looked at it with some real interest. The scientist in him rejoiced at seeing such a wonder — the whole structure was made out of unique crystal. Not made, he corrected himself, but grown. The magic behind it must have been extraordinary.

Even Tenebris looked upon the castle with an aura of admiration. She briefly considered making it her residence as the new Queen, but dismissed that idea — the location didn’t suit her. As great as the Crystal Castle was, the town around it was pitiful.

The door to the castle wasn’t locked and the trio of ponies went inside together. Tenebris stopped at the doorway and her eyes flashed in an even brighter white than they usually did for a brief moment, as she looked around.

“There are two creatures in this castle,” she announced. “None of them are ponies.”

“Princess Twilight has a baby-dragon assistant, my Queen,” explained Shade.

Tenebris swiveled her ears and turned her full attention to him. “A real dragon? How did she manage to acquire such a ferocious beast?”

Shake shrugged. He had never bothered to learn the details of that. To his surprise, Bright answered instead. “Twilight got him as an egg at her entrance exam at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. But he is not as ferocious as the rest of his kind.”

“Most curious…” Tenebris mumbled thoughtfully. “We shall capture the creature unharmed. I’ve always wanted to experiment on a real dragon.”

The Doctor hid his frown that threatened to appear on his face. In the old times, Tenebris had been known for her extensive collection of exotic creatures, and not all of them were just mindless beasts. Experimenting on sentient creatures wasn’t something that Shade was happy about, but at least Tenebris would never experiment on ponies — she put their lives first.

The mare walked the corridors in an assured stride, like she knew where she was going. Even though she’d never been in the castle before, the walls didn’t obscure her vision if she chose so. She could see right through them, knowing exactly where the dragon and the other creature were.

Tenebris stopped in front of the right door and blasted it apart, catching both of the creatures completely by surprise.

“What?!” the dragon yelled in confusion.

While the little dragon stared at Tenebris with his big, reptile eyes, his companion, who seemed to be a simple pegasus wearing the Guard’s armor, sprung to action. He flew up under the ceiling, grabbing his spear and dove at them in a mad charge. The pegasus was yanked in midair by Tenebris’ magic and slammed against the floor. His spear was pulled out of his grip and easily broken in half.

“What are you, creature?” Tenebris asked him with genuine curiosity.

Shade threw a confused look at her. Had she forgotten who the pegasi were? That seemed a little far-fetched, but Shade couldn’t explain her weird question otherwise. The Doctor’s confusion was cleared the next moment after Tenebris destroyed the illusion. Turns out it wasn’t a pegasus at all.

It was a changeling.

Spike jumped back, staring at his companion. It was clear he’d had no idea about his true nature before that moment. The changeling’s emotions were a little harder to distinguish, but he looked distressed, with his fork tongue sticking in and out. And who wouldn’t be nervous when faced with Tenebris?

“I will ask again, what are you?”

“It’s a changeling, my Queen,” Shade said, examining the creature. “I told you about their failed attempt to take Canterlot a few years back. This one is most likely a spy.”

“I’m not a spy,” the spy retorted. “I’m a Royal Guard.”

“I don’t recall any changelings being in the Royal Guard,” Shade said, arching his eyebrow.

“It doesn’t matter who you work for, changeling,” Tenebris said, waving her hoof. “I want to know more about your abilities. Is this ability to disguise yourself your race’s natural talent?”

The changeling nodded.

Tenebris promptly spent a few minutes interrogating him, but didn’t learn much. The changeling was reluctant to speak about his own kind, but he was willing to share information about his work as a Royal Guard. Tenebris wasn’t interested, so she ordered Morning Bright to lock him up somewhere for now.

Then she switched her focus to the dragon Spike. He took a step back and stumbled from receiving such attention from her glowing eyes. His questioning lasted even less. The small dragon refused to talk at all, grumbling some insults instead. He ignored Tenebris’ attempts to scare him and was immune to her freezing magic, easily melting the ice with his dragon fire.

Shade couldn’t help but be impressed at the little beast. Tenebris, however, was less than amused. Thankfully for Spike, before she could use a more radical spell on him, she was distracted by a returned soldier.

The crowd was waiting for her in the square.

***

Shade wasn’t sure what to think of the speech the Queen gave. She tried to put some fear in the hearts of Ponyville’s inhabitants. Judging by the crowd’s reaction, it was a success — more thanks to the earlier demonstration than the speech itself — but that was not how Shade wanted her rule to be.

Ruling by fear would eventually end in revolution, if the Griffon’s history was anything to go by.

Tenebris was in a generous mood, so Shade tried to bring up the issue with her, but she dismissed his concerns. Tenebris claimed that she, as a Queen, knew better about how to rule than somepony like Shade. He tried not to take it as an insult, but it was hard.

Soon after dark, they had managed to catch the last remaining Bearer of the Elements. It was easy as Fluttershy had foolishly come to the castle on her own, looking for Spike, and was quickly captured and put into the improvised cell they had made out of some empty bedroom.

Tenebris threatened her, thereby using her for leverage against Spike, who seemed to care about the mare. Of course, Tenebris wasn’t planning to hurt any of the Elements in any way — Shade didn’t know her full plan, but he reckoned she hoped to bring them to her side eventually. He didn’t argue, even though he thought that particular plan was doomed to fail.

The small dragon agreed to forge a letter to Celestia, where he would assure her that everything was fine. Shade had no idea if such a lie would succeed, but it was good to see that Tenebris at least cared about the element of surprise that they still held. Even so, every minute they spent out in the open presented a huge risk of ruining it.

By that time, the Pegasus messenger he had sent would have reached Canterlot. From there, a whole legion of other messengers would fly off to each city where he had his forces ready to strike, which was basically every important city in Equestria. It would take another day to prepare, so the next night was when the attack was scheduled.

Shade worried slightly if they’d get to Canterlot in time for Tenebris to participate in the fighting. If they’d followed his original plan, they’d take at least another week to prepare, but Tenebris had ordered it to be done as soon as possible, so he had no other choice but to comply. They had a high chance of success anyway, with the only uncertain variable in the plan being Celestia and Luna.

Tenebris remained confident in her ability to hold them off. With the help of his best unicorns, of course — even she wasn’t strong enough to take them on all alone.

The next morning, Tenebris offered the changeling a choice.

“Disguise yourself as Fluttershy and lure the rest of her friends here.”

“Why would I do that?” the changeling asked.

“I will kill you if you don’t.”

The changeling snorted. “Well, that seems like an offer I can’t refuse…”

The next moment, he took on the form of Fluttershy. It was a perfect copy of her, at least in appearance, but the changeling, having impersonated the guard pony for as long as he had, couldn’t change his habits just as easily as his form. His gait was kind of weird — he was used to his large stallion form and was still moving in accordance to it…

“Don’t even think about escaping,” Tenebris warned. “My ponies will be watching you from afar and will strike a killing blow if you try.”

Some doubt showed on “Fluttershy’s” face, but then she nodded in agreement.

“I will help you if you promise to spare my life.”

Tenebris nodded. She told “Fluttershy” what she had gotten from the real one, about her friends being lost in the hills. Tenebris nodded to one of Shade’s soldiers to escort “Fluttershy” outside and, as they left, she walked into the Throne Room along with Shade and Bright.

She settled on the throne with Twilight Sparkle’s cutie mark on it and told the others to do the same.

“Yesterday, I learned more about how trains work. According to the schedule, the train will be here by midday,” she announced. “We will seize this train for ourselves and ride it to Canterlot as fast as possible.”

Bright nodded in silent acknowledgment and the Doctor followed. Finally some good news — the faster they got to Canterlot where the real action would happen, the better. It had been a mistake to come to Ponyville in the first place. Whichever of Twilight’s friends was still wandering around, they shouldn’t have been a priority. They could always be found later after Tenebris assumed the Throne.

However, there was one issue that Tenebris seemed to be forgetting.

“We can’t just go directly to Canterlot, my Queen. It would be better if we left the train near Canterlot and went the rest of the way on hoof,” Shade proposed. “Your appearance among the populace would no doubt make a stir in the city.”

“Good,” Tenebris smiled. “The ponies should see and fear their new Queen.”

“But…that would make our presence known to the Princesses!” exclaimed Shade, meeting Tenebris’ annoyed stare with an equal force.

“Good,” repeated Tenebris, this time without a smile. “I’ve been dreaming about this moment for centuries. Me destroying Starswirl’s praised pupils…Too bad the old fool won’t see it for himself.”

Shade shook his head. Tenebris was far too confident in herself. Of course, her abilities backed it up, but even she wasn’t strong enough to take on Celestia face-to-face with no set up. Both of the princesses were more powerful and experienced than young Twilight.

Shade didn’t spend the whole decade trying to free Tenebris, just so she’d perish because of her own pride.

Gladly, his loyal Bright thought the same way. “Your Majesty… It would be better if you faced the Princesses with the support of our most skilled unicorn fighters. However, they need to get ready for battle first and the Princesses should lose the support of their own Guards. For that to happen, we must arrive in Canterlot unnoticed for our plan of attack there to succeed.”

It was an unusually long speech for Bright, but to Shade’s satisfaction, it put some doubt on Tenebris’ expression.

“Indeed. I have no doubt I’ll be able to win the battle against Celestia and Luna, but a smart Queen shouldn’t take unnecessary risks,” she nodded after thinking about Bright’s words. “Thank you for pointing it out.”

Shade was both happy and disappointed at such an outcome. It should be he who Tenebris should listen to, not his second-in-command. But at the same time, she had agreed to follow his plan, which was what he had wanted in the first place.

***

The last of Twilight’s friends were captured in the next hour. They had sneaked into the castle, thinking they could hide from Tenebris herself, but she easily found them and, after a short struggle, captured them. The changeling had led them here like Tenebris had ordered, but Shade had the impression that he had tried to fool them in some way.

Thankfully, Tenebris didn’t trust the creature and he had been put in chains along with the rest.

Tenebris found a new fascinating creature to study — the human. She was interrogating him at the moment. Shade knew that those strange creatures inhabited the world that the old portal mirror led to. It was mildly interesting, but not important to them right now, as the mirror wasn’t working once again.

Tenebris didn’t care.

Instead of arguing with her again, Shade left the room. He decided to visit his old enemy face-to-face, the pony who had put his plans at risk not once, but twice. He approached the right door and looked at it thoughtfully. A lone unicorn was guarding it, one of his soldiers. The unicorn nodded to him in greeting, but Shade barely registered the gesture.

“Open it up,” he ordered.

The soldier did so and Shade stepped inside.

The chained ponies stood up in alarm at his appearance, all but Sundae. He immediately recognized her yellow coat and blue mane with a streak of purple, though her cutie mark was different from what he remembered. Sundae looked as young as she used to be all these years ago — must be the side effects of the mirror spell.

The pony was lying on the floor unconscious, but her neck was collared and chained to a wall nonetheless. She saw her getting hurt in the fight against Tenebris and apparently the mare hadn’t recovered yet. Shade briefly considered if he should get rid of her for good, but dismissed that idea.

Now that his plan was well under way, there was no reason to do it. She had showed great potential when she used to be his student years ago. So great that he had wanted to recruit her to his then small organization, but she had refused, so he’d had to pick Bright instead.

He didn’t really hate her — she had just been at the wrong place at the wrong time.

“You will pay for what you’ve done, monster,” an azure pony snapped at him.

Shade glanced at her with a frown — it was Blue Ruby, Sundae’s old friend and companion. She was an extremely annoying pony. He’d had to arrange the end of her scientific career because she was being too vocal about blaming him for what he’d done to Sundae. Not that she’d been wrong, of course…

“Your tongue has already led you to trouble, Miss Ruby,” Shade told her in an even voice. “Don’t repeat the same mistake.”

“Ha, like you can do anything worse!”

“Believe me, I can,” Shade glanced at her friend on the floor.

Ruby paled. “Don’t you dare…”

Shade shrugged. He would let Sundae live, of course; she didn’t really deserve to die. However, he had no desire to exchange some petty threats with her annoying friend, so he turned around and left the room.

***

“How could you let them escape?” Tenebris asked in her icey voice.

The temperature in the room dropped to a point that the walls were covered with frost. The soldier who had caused Tenebris’ rage was shaking before her like a leaf on an autumn tree. His partner in the fiasco had suffered a head injury and was in no condition to talk right now, so he had to face his Queen alone.

“They got help!” the soldier exclaimed, waving his forelegs. “We…”

“Silence, fool,” Tenebris turned her head to give Shade a glare. “Are those all you could gather for your little army? Pathetic.”

Shade clenched his jaw and glared right back at the Queen. He had worked as hard as he could to gather as many ponies as possible for the final stage of his plan and Tenebris was just dismissing his achievements out of hoof! It was an insult and he barely suppressed his desire to say something sharp in response.

It was foolish of her to underestimate the escapees. Sundae had managed to escape from another world, of course she’d escape now, being left outside with two idiots.

“I will give you another chance to serve me, pony,” Tenebris said, addressing the soldier again. “But if you fail me again…”

She left the threat vague.

They didn’t send anyone to look for the escapees. There was no time, as midday was soon approaching and even if it wasn’t, they had no resources to spare on a town-wide search. Ponyville was a large village with hundreds of citizens and the escapees could be hiding anywhere. Shade doubted that Tenebris’ threats of destroying anyone who helped them would prevent the local ponies from helping them hide.

When the time came, they gathered the remaining captives and left the castle. Tenebris cast a powerful defense spell on the whole building, so nopony would be able to sneak in. It was still possible to get in via teleportation, but it was unlikely a backward town like Ponyville would have unicorns strong enough to pull it off.

Morning Bright also assured Tenebris that the escapees wouldn’t be able to use their magic for a while, as the inhibitors he’d put on them were extremely difficult to remove without the proper key.

“I modified those inhibitors personally, Your Majesty,” explained Bright. “They’re not only harder to remove without the key, but they also damage the magic flow of the unicorn. It’s only temporary, of course, but the longer you have it, the longer it would take for the flow to restore itself. I made them so powerful that they could work even on an alicorn like Celestia.”

“This is highly impressive,” nodded Tenebris. “What else can you do?”

The two continued to discuss various magical items and Shade couldn’t help but feel excluded from their conversation. He barely understood what they were talking about. Tenebris and Morning Bright seemed to have established a connection with each other more successfully than he’d done so himself.

Shade couldn’t help but worry that now, after he’d freed her, she would simply move him to a secondary role, putting Bright in his current position or even worse — just dispose of him as reward for his loyal service. Tenebris had never said it directly, but he could tell from what he’d seen so far that the Queen considered unicorns to be superior to the other tribes.

Soon, they arrived at the station, which distracted Shade from his depressing thoughts. The train was waiting for them already — the ponies were going in and out, having no clue that it was their last stop today.

Tenebris didn’t want to ride along with the common ponies, so Shade ordered his soldiers to go through the wagons and force everypony outside. The ponies began to complain at such a rough treatment, but shut up fast when they saw the Queen herself with her glowing eyes.

Her throwing a few tardy ponies through the windows also helped to discourage them.

The party boarded the train and it accelerated towards Canterlot with much more speed than it would otherwise.

***

The train was stopped a few miles before Canterlot. Tenebris ordered the machinist to be killed and this time the order was executed smoothly. Shade didn’t think it was really necessary, but the Queen insisted, using his own earlier words about the element of surprise against him.

They left the body in the train and went to Canterlot on hoof from there. The train would be found soon, being out in the open like that, of course, and the city would maybe even send some Guards to investigate, but it would only play in Tenebris’ favor.

The fewer guards they faced in Canterlot, the better their chances of success.

However, first they should get into the city itself, which wasn’t so simple. If they were alone, they would easily go through the guard’s post at the mountain road, but they couldn’t do so with the chained prisoners they had along with them. Especially not with this human — he was too noticeable in the crowd.

“We have a hideout in the village nearby,” Shade said. “We shall leave our prisoners there — they would be a liability for us in Canterlot, until the city is under our control.”

Tenebris was reluctant at first to part with the prisoners after the earlier escape, but Morning Bright convinced her it was for the best. To destroy any chances of them escaping, he cast a powerful sleep spell upon them. Then they were tied up and carried all the way to the village.

Once there, the prisoners were thrown into a secure room. Two soldiers were left with them, including the one who let the others escape. Tenebris promised to kill him personally if the prisoners somehow escaped again. He swore on his life that it wouldn’t happen.

“I can teleport us to Canterlot without a problem,” Tenebris stated confidently, looking to the mountain, towering over them.

“Weren’t you saving your energy for the battle, my Queen?” Shade inquired.

The Queen gave him an annoyed stare. “What do you know about magic, Nightfall? You’re just an earth pony.”

Shade looked down in seeming acceptance, while in fact he couldn’t suppress his rage from displaying on his face and didn’t want the Queen to see it. After everything he’d done for her, she dared to refer to him as some kind of dumb minion!

When she had reached out to him from Tartarus itself and begged for help, she hadn’t seemed so arrogant…Of course, she hadn’t. It would have been foolish of her to show her true nature while her freedom depended on Shade’s good will.

“Shade is right, however,” Bright supported his boss. “You do need all the power you have for the incoming battle. We can easily reach the city on hoof.”

Tenebris contemplated his words for a few more moments and then nodded reluctantly. “You are right as always, Morning Bright,” she said. “There is no need to rush, I suppose.”

Shade was grateful for his subordinate’s support, though he was annoyed that Bright had become so informal with him. He’d called him just Shade, no less. He had never showed any ambition before — he was a follower. But now it seemed like he had found someone better for himself to follow…

Tenebris was given a simple disguise — a cape to hide her unique appearance — and the rest of his soldiers packed up their armor. No guard gave them a second glance as they easily passed first through the road post and then the main gate into the city.

“Insect should be waiting for us at the manor, my Queen,” Shade said to Tenebris.

Tenebris nodded. He couldn’t see her expression under the hood she was wearing, but he saw her head turning around as she looked at the city around her. It was the first time she had seen Canterlot for herself and even she was impressed with its splendor and seeming wealth.

“This city is a true capital,” she said.

Shade gave no answer to that. Soon they would have to walk through the poor quarters to reach Fleur’s manor; he was curious to hear what Tenebris would say about the capital then.

To his disappointment, Tenebris remained quiet all the way. In her head, she was already making plans about what she would change in Canterlot when she came to power. Going through the poor district had made her realize how many earth ponies lived in the great city.

That was about to change.

Every tribe of ponies was useful, of course, but in their own unique way. The right place for earth ponies was in the fields or in the army, not wasting valuable space in the mountain city.

Of course, not all of the poor district’s inhabitants were earth ponies. Plenty of unicorns and pegasi lived there as well; they would have to move out too. If they couldn’t achieve success in the city, they should do some manual labor instead, like their earth pony brethren.

Tenebris glanced at Shade — the stallion wouldn’t like the idea. But in the end, he would accept the unicorn race’s natural superiority, just like everypony else. And if he didn’t, then there was always his second-in-command Morning Bright. He appeared to be much brighter than Shade in Tenebris’ eyes.

She chuckled at the pun.

As they walked through the streets, Tenebris asked Shade to explain his plans of taking the city under their control in detail. Surprisingly enough, the plan was very well thought out and its ultimate success depended on Tenebris’ ability to defeat the Princesses.

They arrived at Fleur’s manor. As always, a few ponies were idling around on the street adjacent to it, guarding the place. They recognized their boss Spider and let him and the others pass freely into the inner yard.

A bored-looking Insect noticed them from the porch and flapped his wings, bringing himself close to the group. He nodded to Shade and looked at Tenebris’ caped figure with interest. A few moments later, he nodded to her too, having realized who that was.

“Our forces are in position to strike,” he reported. “The guys were told what was going to happen and my best ponies are leading them. The attack will begin at midnight, unless you wish to delay it.”

“No, everything is going as planned,” Shade confirmed. He had some inner doubts, but he wasn’t about to express them in front of Tenebris. “Don’t go anywhere; I want to discuss some details later.”

Insect nodded and hovered out of the way, letting the procession continue on their way to the manor. Tenebris ignored the exchange — for her, Insect was a simple servant who didn’t require her attention unless something went wrong.

A group of unicorns were waiting inside the manor. Per Shade’s request, each of his lieutenants sent his best unicorn fighters for a squad that would support Tenebris in her fight against the Princesses. They had been defeated by their foes in the past, including Queen Chrysalis of the changelings, so with enough help, Tenebris would beat them as well.

“Boss,” one of the unicorns said, recognizing Shade as Spider.

Shade greeted the group and invited everypony to proceed to the meeting room. As they trotted inside and took their positions around the table, Shade reflected that he was the only earth pony in the room. It wasn’t a pleasant thought, especially considering what he had learned about Tenebris’ feelings about different tribes.

He suppressed his worries, as the Queen nodded towards Bright to begin

“Welcome, fillies and gentlecotls,” he began. “First of all, let me introduce to you our Queen Tenebris the First.”

She lowered her hood theatrically, revealing herself. Ponies in the room gasped in shock upon seeing her sparkling white eyes and began to chatter rapidly among themselves. They had been told about the true purpose of their organization prior to sending them, but it was still a surprise for them to see the throne pretender in person.

They’d just assumed that Spider, the leader of the organization, would take it for himself.

“You’ve been chosen for the high honor of helping our Queen ascend the throne, everypony,” said Bright.

“Together we will face Celestia and Luna, and end their reign forever,” Tenebris continued.

The ponies exchanged glances, looking less sure than before. They’d considered the alicorns to be nearly gods for too long to just accept the thought that together they were powerful enough to beat them. But Tenebris’ hard stare stopped them from openly rejecting the idea as madness.

“As soon as any of them leave the palace, I will teleport us right behind their tails to ambush them. We won’t take the Princesses as prisoners — I don’t need those pretenders for my rightful throne.”

Shade shifted uncomfortably in his seat. This wasn’t part of his original plan. They were supposed to capture them alive if possible and then force them to abdicate. But by killing them off, Tenebris would outright turn most of the ponies in the country against her. As much as Shade wished to end the current rule, the ponies of Equestria respected the Princesses and wouldn’t just accept the rule of a usurper, despite how much Tenebris claimed it was her rightful place.

“I’m sorry, my Queen, but I have an objection,” Shade started carefully, earning himself an irate gaze. But he needed his Queen to see the flaw in her plan, even if she disliked it, so he continued nonetheless and explained his reservations to her.

“Your concern is appreciated, Nightfall,” Tenebris answered with a tiny smile, “But I’ve ruled the Kingdom in the past. I know the way the common ponies think. They respect strength. By killing their “gods”, I will prove my superiority in their eyes.”

Shade looked at Bright, hoping that he’d say something to convince the Queen as usual, but he remained quiet this time. The other unicorns stayed quiet as well; they had no desire to oppose Tenebris. With no support whatsoever, Shade leaned back on his chair, deciding to drop the issue for the moment.

The rest of the meeting went without his involvement. Tenebris was discussing some finer details of the upcoming mission, but Shade had his own thoughts clouding his mind. After Tenebris had been freed, she just did things her own way, without any regards for him. He felt useless.

“I will reward you for your loyalty, my ponies,” said Tenebris. “Even I can’t rule Equestria alone. I need ministers, advisers, generals and governors. In my old Kingdom, only the strongest unicorns who had proved their worth could become one.”

Her last words got Shade’s full attention again. She was promising to some lowly thugs the positions he’d already promised to his lieutenants to insure their loyalty. Just because they were unicorns! Not that his lieutenants were morally better, but at least he judged them based on their own traits, not their tribe. He should have realized it would come to that, before he’d freed her…

This new Queen would ruin Equestria.

Tenebris was the last ruler of the old Kingdom of Unicornia, after most of its population had migrated to the south in search of new lands. Despite that, the Kingdom had still survived for decades, thanks to Tenebris and her followers’ magic.

But in the end, life in the frozen north had become too harsh even for her. Tenebris gathered an army from whoever was left and went south to claim the new land for herself, but the ponies there had already built Equestria and her forces were beaten.

Starswirl the Bearded himself defeated her in a duel and, instead of killing her outright, put her in his brand-new prison he called Tartarus, using the name from ancient legends. Now the prison was a legend of its own.

That was the history he’d learned from books, and it had been confirmed by Tenebris herself. There wasn’t anything to suggest her views on other pony tribes were so close-minded, but in retrospect it wasn’t such a big surprise. The whole disaster in the north had happened because each tribe claimed itself superior, if the story was true.

Tenebris had always denied that particular legend, but she could be lying to appease Shade. No, she was definitely lying.

After the meeting had ended, Tenebris demanded some open space for her to test the unicorns’ abilities. Shade put the responsibility on the first servant he saw and, while Tenebris was distracted, called Bright away for a private talk.

“What do you need, Shade?” his second-in-command asked directly as they turned around the corner.

Shade frowned at such a gross insubordination — Bright had never allowed himself to behave that way before. He used to call him master, but it seemed that Tenebris’ influence was winning him over.

“I need an honest answer, Bright,” Shade looked at his ex-student sternly. “Do you agree with our Queen’s course of action?”

“No,” Bright answered. “But I will do as she says,” he added before Shade could express his relief.

The Doctor bit his tongue. He nodded curtly and they parted ways. Bright wouldn’t support him against the Queen, that much was obvious. The damn unicorn had always pretended to be loyal, but now Shade realized that it was only until he had found somepony stronger to serve.

Shade was a realist and didn’t have any hopes that Tenebris would suddenly reconsider her thousand-year-old views, at least not before it was too late. He’d made a mistake in believing Tenebris and freeing her from Tartarus in the first place. Instead of bringing Equestria out of stagnation, she would destroy it with her mad actions!

But all was not lost yet. For all her folly, Tenebris hadn’t disposed of him yet because he was still useful. Perhaps she was even grateful for his service that had set her free and given her an army to lead.

It was too late to change his ultimate plan, but, after Tenebris seized the throne, he’d find a way to get rid of her and put someone better in her stead. Shade and Bright had planned different ways to defeat the Princesses in case they failed to free Tenebris. He could use some of those methods on her.

Shade went outside to find Insect, who was supposed to be waiting for him in the yard. The pegasus wasn’t a pleasant fellow, but Shade needed the allies. If Insect learned that his dreams of becoming the next mayor of Canterlot were about to be crushed in favor of some low-life unicorn…

“Boss,” Insect suddenly landed right in front of Shade. The Doctor didn’t even flinch — he was used to the lieutenant’s quirks.

“Insect,” nodded Shade. “I need to speak with you privately.”

The pegasus glanced around. “Well, there is nopony here.”

“We need to discuss some serious business.”

“Okay,” Insect shrugged.

Shade trotted on the path leading to a gazebo by the fence. Nopony would see them from the outside. It was good, in case the conversation with Insect went badly. For all his menace, he was a feeble pony and it wouldn’t be hard for a stallion like Shade to crush the life out of him if needed.

Shade was sure it wouldn’t come to that.

“We’ve made a mistake by freeing Tenebris,” Shade bluntly said to Insect.

“What?” the pegasus looked at him in surprise.

“Tenebris believes in the unicorn race’s superiority,” explained Shade. “She’s going to get rid of us once she gets into power.”

“Why did you free her then?” Insect asked, flashing his wings. “It wouldn’t be easy, but we could win without her help.”

“I’ve built this organization on her orders. She was always intended to replace Celestia as our new ruler, not me.”

The last bit of news was a revelation for Insect. Everypony in Shade’s organization who knew about their true goal had always assumed their boss would take the throne for himself and that ally in Tartarus he had told them about was nothing more than a puppet. Shade thought it was better to keep their illusion — they were more likely to follow him than some unknown figure from dusty, old legends.

“Well, boss, you know I’d rather support you…” said Insect. Shade tensed up, feeling a ‘but’. “…But if she’s so powerful and you have no means of controlling her, what can we do to stop her?”

“I have a plan,” said Shade. “But I need the ponies loyal to me for it to work.”

“What plan?”

“I will tell you when I’m sure of your loyalty.”

Insect frowned, but then shrugged. “I haven’t been working for you just so that I’ll be thrown to the side like a broken tool. If Tenebris plans to get rid of me, then of course I’m on your side.”

Shade nodded and relaxed slightly — he believed Insect. With an ally like him, he would have a much better chance against Tenebris. After she defeated the Princesses, he’d strike against her. Insect controlled the Canterlot branch of his secret empire and he would find the ponies willing and able to do the deed. As powerful as she was, she’d be weakened right after the fight and that would present a perfect opportunity.

It wasn’t the best plan, but it was the only one Shade could come up with on such a short notice. He and Insect didn’t have much time to implement it — midnight was just a few hours away. The Spider quickly explained the details to Insect and the pegasus left to gather the ponies for the job. Since nopony yet knew who Tenebris was, it wouldn’t be hard to find some mad volunteers by promising a big enough reward.

After his lieutenant had left, Shade went back to the manor to finally reunite with his mare Fleur. She’d likely heard the news of his arrival and must have been worried about why he hadn’t come to her yet. Shade smiled thinking about his lover. She was a pony he knew was absolutely loyal to him no matter what, and he loved her for that.

He found Fleur in the large guest room. Unfortunately, it was the same room Tenebris had chosen to test her unicorns. The furniture was carelessly moved to the walls to free some space in the middle where Tenebris and a lone, frightened unicorn were standing, facing each other.

Tenebris’ horn shot a spell, hitting and breaking the unicorn’s shield in front of her in mere seconds. She stopped the attack with a disgusted scowl on her face.

“Weak,” she commented on the display, stomping a hoof. “All of you are weak.”

She looked upon the unicorns, who hung their heads in shame and stopped her eyes on Fleur, who remained tall and proud, as always. Shade’s heart skipped a beat — he didn’t like that kind of attention from the Queen to his marefriend.

“You! Come here!” Tenebris pointed a hoof at the mare.

Fleur lifted her eyebrows and remained standing. “What for?”

“If you’re strong enough, I will let you take the place of one of those fools,” she waved her hoof at the panting unicorns.

“She’s not a soldier, my Queen,” Shade interrupted. “The unicorns I’ve provided would be enough to support you in battle.”

Tenebris narrowed her eyes. “Those weaklings are almost useful. In my time, they would be plowing the fields along with the earth ponies.”

Shade’s face reddened at the jab. He was tired of Tenebris constantly implying that earth ponies were useless! He reminded himself that soon she would be paying for her arrogance. But he couldn’t allow Fleur to be anywhere near her when his team would ambush her after the battle.

“Fleur is not a soldier,” repeated Shade. “You’re strong enough to win against the Princesses by yourself.”

“That’s not what you had said earlier,” Tenebris glared at him.

Bright, who stood silently at the edge of the room, suddenly approached Tenebris. He whispered something into her ear and the Queen cringed like she’d heard something truly revolting. Bright then looked at Shade with that neutral expression of his, but Shade noticed a quick snicker.

“You…You two are in a relationship?” Tenebris asked, drooping her ears.

Shade took an involuntary step back, having realized what that fact must have meant to Tenebris. Fleur looked concerned as well, even though she didn’t yet know the reason for the Queen’s reaction.

“Yes,” she admitted simply.

The temperature in the room dropped by a good margin. Quite literally, in fact, as Shade saw a steamy cloud coming out of his breath. The source of the cold was Tenebris, who looked from Fleur to Shade with a murderous stare, as if deciding whom to kill first.

“Because you’ve freed me from Tartarus,” began Tenebris in a high and cold voice, “I won’t punish you for such an abhorrent behavior. But you must end your unnatural relationship at once.”

“As you wish, my Queen,” Shade agreed hastily. Fleur’s eyes got wide in shock, but then she understood his intentions and gave him a tiny nod.

Though perhaps he had agreed a bit too hastily because the Queen narrowed her eyes, continuing to stare at him. She stepped closer and Shade forced himself not to back out in fear. Tenebris leaned down her face to his so closely that he could feel her breath. It sent a chill down his spine, making his tail shudder.

“There will be no foul interbreeding in my new Kingdom, Nightfall,” Tenebris growled. “If you can’t control your stallion’s urges, go and find some mud mare outside.”

Technically, Shade had done exactly that in the past, visiting the brothel to satisfy his needs, but Fleur was different for him. She wasn’t just a good-looking mare, though she was gorgeous, but she was important for him on a spiritual level as well.

Fleur had lent her support to his cause at the very beginning when he used to be inexperienced, with no resources and connections. She’d helped his organization grow. At first, it had been just out of ambition for restoring her own family’s power, but it gradually changed into something more once they got to know each other better.

“My mother was an earth pony,” murmured Fleur, but in the quiet of the room everypony had heard that.

Tenebris turned her head sharply, appalled. “What did you say?”

“I said, my mother was an earth pony,” Fleur repeated with a rebellious note.

It was clear that she was nervous, but she had a firm control over her emotions, honed by years of dealing with the Canterlot nobility. Sadly, the same couldn’t be said about Tenebris. Her face distorted in rage at Fleur’s admission; sparks flew off her horn. Shade panicked for a moment — who knew what this mad mare would do! So he did something rash.

He grabbed her.

The next moment he flew backwards, crushing onto a table by the wall. He wasn’t hurt, however, just a few scratches on his back from the splinters. Fleur gasped and dashed towards him, but Tenebris lifted her up in her magic aura, suspending the mare in the air.

The observers stood dumbstruck, having no clue about whom to support. On the one hoof, Shade was their boss, but on the other, Tenebris had introduced herself as the queen and she obviously was far above their level of power. So they just stared as the situation unfolded.

Shade quickly recovered and jumped on his hooves. He grabbed a broken table leg and threw it at Tenebris, whose attention was on Fleur. Surprisingly enough, she was so enraged and confident that she didn’t even bother to protect herself, so the leg hit her square in the head. Her concentration faltered and Fleur landed on the floor.

However, Shade knew it wasn’t a fight they could win.

“Come with me!” Shade screamed at Fleur, who was staring at something in horror.

Shade looked at Bright barely in time to evade a spell that burned through the wall just behind him. He realized that it would have killed him if he had been hit — Bright wasn’t joking around.

Fleur realized it too and, folding her ears defensively, began to shoot blast after blast at the attacker. Of course, he easily deflected them, but it was enough time for Shade to grab Fleur and haul her out of the room.

“You won’t leave, traitors!” Tenebris shrieked, rubbing a bruise on her head.

Shade didn’t stop to look back, but he’d heard the sound of charging magic and he knew he wouldn’t reach the exit in time. Tenebris unleashed her magic the next second and Shade mentally braced for the hit, but the wave of deadly frost hit the measly shield that Fleur had put up around them barely in time.

The shield collapsed like a chicken egg, but it absorbed some of the spell’s power. Unfortunately, what was left struck poor Fleur, covering her coat in icey frost. She would have fallen down, but Shade dragged her out of the room and into the corridor outside.

He didn’t think about what had happened and how badly Fleur was hurt for the moment — all he wanted now was to get out of the manor and hide.

A group of his henchponies were hastily approaching. They didn’t know what had happened yet, but they’d heard the noise and screams. A plan formulated itself in the Doctor’s head.

“Morning Bright is a traitor!” he told them. “Kill him and his accomplices!”

The henchponies didn’t question his boss’s orders and galloped into the room. Shade placed Fleur on his back and ran away as fast as he could. Explosions and clashes of metal became more quiet as Shade got further and further from it. Instead of going for the main entrance, he chose to exit out of the back door, which was on the opposite side of the manor.

Shade met nopony in his sprint through the house, crashing a few vases along the way. He busted through the door onto the backyard and from there, it wasn’t far to the street adjacent to the property. It was hard not to stop and check on Fleur, but he forced himself to ignore that desire until he was at a safe distance.

He briefly stopped near the gate to the outside and looked back. Nopony was following him yet, which meant his improvised distraction had bought them some time.

“What happened?” an armored soldier, who was guarding the gate, asked him.

Shade ignored his question, instead ordering the pony to follow him.

Together they went out on the streets; Shade still carrying Fleur on his back. There was a safe house nearby, but it wasn’t his destination. Bright knew about this one and would definitely check it first. He desperately went through his options, but found none that would suit them — Bright knew about every other secret place in this city.

“You, what’s your name?” Shade asked the pegasus who was guarding the gate before.

“Sketchy,” he answered, glancing at his boss curiously. He’d never bothered to ask for their names before.

“Do you know where we can find a doctor in this neighborhood?”

The pegasus nodded. He’d lived in here before being recruited into the band. Now he slept in the manor most of the time, but he still remembered everything there was to know.

“Lead the way, Sketchy,” Shade ordered.

The pony shrugged and did as he was told. He knew a good doc nearby that helped the poor for almost no fee, though he'd be closed by now. Sketchy glanced at the mare on Shade’s back — she didn’t look too good. Maybe the doc would let them in, considering the situation.

Shade felt Fleur stirring on his back, so at least she was still alive. He hurried Sketchy to go faster, but the pegasus retorted that it was getting dark and he didn't want them to get lost in the hostile neighborhood.

Thankfully, he found the doctor's place pretty fast. Shade walked past Sketchy and rammed on the door. Nopony answered at first, but then a light lit up in the window.

“I'm closed,” an annoyed voice sounded from the inside.

“Open up now or you'll regret it,” Shade hit the door with force, making it shudder.

“Eh, maybe you shouldn't be so harsh, boss,” Sketchy whispered. “The doc is a good pony, I've heard.”

Shade glared at the insolent soldier, making him shrink in fear, but then considered his words more carefully. It wasn't such a bright idea to threaten the only pony who could help his Fleur. The smarter way would be to appeal to his sense of duty, which should be pretty high, considering the neighborhood he had chosen for his career.

“Look, my wife is hurt pretty badly,” Shade said more calmly. “You're the only one who can help.”

That seemed to get through to the stallion. Shade heard the sound of various latches moving, and the door finally opened.

The young unicorn with a medical cutie mark quickly looked over the unconscious Fleur on Shade's back. Then he invited them in. Shade and Sketchy followed with no hesitation, closing the door behind them.

There was a simple bed in the room and the unicorn ordered to put the mare on it. Shade did as he was told, finally able to look at his lover’s injuries up close. His heart fell as he saw her white coat had lost its bright color, becoming drab instead. Otherwise, she looked healthy enough, but Shade had no idea what kind of spell Tenebris had used.

It was all his fault.

Shade should have warned Fleur about Tenebris when he’d first arrived, but he had chosen to find Insect first…

He wasn’t sure if he should still meet with the pegasus — despite what Insect had said earlier, he might quickly switch his allegiance to Tenebris now, capturing or killing Shade on the spot to get in her good favor. It would be foolish of him, of course, and Insect wasn’t a fool, but it was still a risk.

“How did it happen?” the doc interrupted his thoughts.

Shade considered lying for a second, but then dismissed the idea. The doc needed to know all the information to help her.

“She was hit with a powerful dark magic spell,” he told the doc. “It was weakened by her shield, but it was still enough to do some damage.”

Shade waited for the the doctor to ask for more details, but the stallion remained silent — he was smart enough to recognize the danger of such knowledge, living in a neighborhood like this one.

“I suppose you have no idea what this spell was exactly,” the doc said, glancing at his hornless forehead. “But all the signs show that she’s dying. Whatever the spell was, it was meant to kill.”

Shade froze, panicking inside. The doc’s words didn’t sound promising at all. He took a deep breath to force himself to calm down and looked at Fleur. She was breathing, so there was still hope for her.

“Can you save her?” he asked, his voice steady.

The doc shrugged and Shade felt a surge of anger, which he quickly repressed. He didn’t really expect some random local medic to have experience with injuries caused by ancient magic. What he really needed was Canterlot Hospital, but the place was going to be taken over by his own ponies tonight.

It was too risky to go there. After her victory, Tenebris would address everypony, solidifying her control over his organization and most would have no choice but to follow. He couldn’t oppose her openly, because nopony really knew Shade’s appearance, except for the soldiers at Fleur’s manor and his lieutenants. He controlled his organization through them.

If he were to meet a regular member outside now, they’d treat him as some random commoner. His only hope in the matter was Insect, who was gathering a group of ponies on his orders to ambush Tenebris after her fight. If he went through with the plan, then Shade would be triumphant. All he had to do now was wait.

But Fleur didn’t have the luxury of time.

“You should do all you can to make her better,” Shade ordered to the doc.

The stallion nodded. He approached a supply closet and searched among the various bottles. Having found one, he gripped it in his magic and returned to Shade.

“This is a very potent potion I was saving for a special occasion,” he explained. “If it works, it’ll freeze her condition for a few days in the state she is now. It won’t improve or get worse, so she shouldn’t die until you find her some proper help.”

“How much do you want for it?”

“I’ll give it to you for free,” said the doc with a tiny smile and Shade raised his eyebrows.

It sounded too good to be true. Such a potion would cost a fortune; Shade narrowed his eyes and gave the doc a stare full of suspicion.

“What’s the catch?”

The doc sighed. “Well, that potion is… experimental. My friend gave it to me for testing, but I had no chance to, well, test it.”

“Do it,” Shade ordered.

He decided it was worth the risk. This doc was obviously not able to save his mare and with her injuries she would die until he could find some proper help. The potion was her only hope of surviving. The unicorn nodded.

He opened Fleur’s mouth and administered the whole bottle to her. She stirred on the bed and twitched her limbs slightly, but otherwise no visible change had occurred. The doc had a satisfied grin on his face, so Shade allowed himself to relax.

“She’s not dead yet!” the doc announced, as if he was surprised himself at such a wonder.

Shade cringed, but let it go. It seemed that his gamble had paid off.

“What if the potion is a dud?” Sketchy suddenly asked.

Shade threw the soldier a deadly glare and he shut up, hopefully regretting his dumb question.

“It was made by a great alchemist, though I won’t tell you the name, so it should work,” the doc felt the need to explain.

Shade walked closer to Fleur and caressed her cheek. She didn’t react to his touch in any way, but he could see her belly rising up and down as she slowly breathed. Shade’s eyes tingled as if he was about to cry, but he didn’t. If the potion had worked, she would live at least until tomorrow. It would give him the time to plan his course of action.

“We will stay here,” Shade informed the doc. “The city won’t be safe tonight.”

The unicorn chuckled nervously and switched his gaze from the tough-looking Shade to his armored accomplice. He wisely chose not to argue and just shrugged instead.

“Be my guests,” he said.

***

Shade didn’t sleep that night.

The sounds of fighting could be heard in the city from afar, but it never got close to the house he was in. There wasn’t really anything in this district worth taking. Shade was waiting for the main event of the night — Tenebris’ fight against the Princesses, but it never happened. Or, if it had, it hadn’t been a powerful magical battle as he would expect because he’d seen no signs of it.

The doc and Sketchy slept through it all.

Shade thought about what he was going to do with Sketchy. The soldier had probably begun to suspect something and it wouldn’t take him much time to figure out that he didn’t have to follow Shade’s orders anymore. It was time to either secure his loyalty or nip the problem in the bud.

“Do you know what’s happening, Sketchy?” Shade asked the pegasus after he joined him in the main room.

“Eh, we’re taking the city?” Sketchy shrugged.

Shade shook his head. “No, Sketchy. They’re taking the city. I’ve been betrayed.”

“Whoa, that’s… bad.”

Shade snorted and then couldn’t hold back a laugh. The pegasus looked at him like he’d gone crazy and he wasn’t far from the truth. Of course the situation was bad. The work of decades was about to be rendered useless. His marefriend was dying on that bed. Equestria would fall apart if Tenebris seized the throne.

Each of those events was a disaster by itself. And it was all his fault.

“You’re right, Sketchy. It is bad,” Shade said, finally calming down. “But you will help me to make it better.”

Shade explained to Sketchy who Tenebris really was and what her plans about Equestria were. Sketchy appeared to be shocked and by the end of that conversation he had promised Shade to do everything in his power to help him reclaim the leadership. However, he wasn’t thrilled about Shade’s ultimate plan of removing the Princesses from power.

“Princess Celestia has ruled Equestria for thousands of years,” he said. “Why would you want to dethrone her and her sister?”

Usually, Shade wouldn’t answer such a question from a simple henchpony, but Sketchy was his only ally for now so he considered the answer carefully. But the more he thought about it, the less clear the answer seemed in his head.

“Equestria… is in stagnation,” he finally answered.

“Well, sure, there are problems in the country,” admitted Sketchy, “I wouldn’t have joined your band if everything was peachy, but would freeing some ancient queen from Tartarus and putting her on the throne would really make it better?”

Shade drooped his ears. The answer to that question was obvious to him now — a big, fat no. It was Tenebris who had convinced him she would make a good queen, but she had just told him what he’d wanted to hear.

They’d never talked much — it was difficult even for Tenebris to reach the upper world from Tartarus. Only their blood connection had made it possible. But when they did talk, they would discuss the current state of affairs in Equestria most of the time. Shade had always hated that nothing seemed to be changing in it, but he’d never realized that his actions would change the situation for the worse.

“Tenebris fooled me,” Shade explained.

“An ancient queen locked in Tartarus for eternity…Who would have thought she was a jerk,” Sketchy said; his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Shade looked at him sharply. Of course, Sketchy had every right to say that, but it was still a sign of gross insubordination. Just yesterday he would punish anypony who’d dare to say such things to his face, but today he had to let it slip. Why bother?

“It doesn’t matter what happened before,” Shade said in the end. “It is in your interest to help me reclaim my position. If Tenebris wins, we all suffer.”

Sketchy had no arguments against that.

Since he had the armor, he looked just like the rest of the soldiers. If they’d won tonight, and there was little doubt that they had, Sketchy could freely move around the city with no trouble, unlike Shade himself. So he sent his only loyal soldier to find Insect and figure out what was going on.

If Insect had switched sides, Shade would lose Sketchy. But it wouldn’t be a big loss — a lone soldier wasn’t much help anyway. It was worth the risk to send him.

After the pegasus had left, Shade prepared for a long wait.

***

While Shade was waiting, the magical battle he’d been expecting finally occurred.

There was no doubt in his mind that it was Tenebris and the Princesses duking it out somewhere in the city. He even went outside along with the doc and half the neighborhood. The flashes and explosions were powerful enough to rock all of Canterlot.

It lasted for about ten minutes, until the last of it died down. Shade had never seen such a powerful magic display and he suddenly doubted that Insect and whoever he’d managed to find, if he’d done that in the first place, would have a chance at ambushing Tenebris.

Even while tired she would fry their flanks.

The next moment a golden shield appeared around the royal palace. The crowd on the street talked to each other in agitation — even the thickest ones should have realized that something was happening. The last time a shield like that had appeared around Canterlot, a bug invasion had happened. Combined with the fighting at night, most of the ponies feared that it was happening again. It was still fresh in everypony’s memory.

The citizens hurried to their homes to prepare for a new disaster and Shade followed their example, going back to the doc’s clinic.

“Something is telling me that you know what is happening,” the doc pointed an accusatory hoof at Shade.

There was no point in denying the obvious. “I do.”

The doctor waited for an explanation, but it didn’t follow. He shrugged and went to check on Fleur’s condition as Shade watched him.

“This is the time I usually open my clinic,” the doc said, after confirming that Fleur’s condition had remained the same.

“You won’t do it today,” Shade shook his head.

“Why in Tartarus not?”

Shade considered just threatening him, but decided against it. The doc had been useful so far and he felt some gratitude. Instead, he took a small purse full of coins and threw it at the doc, who barely caught it in his magic. He looked inside and his eyes grew wide — that was no less than 50 bits! It was a big sum by the local standards, likely more than he would make for the entire day or even a week.

The doc shook his head, however.

“I work to help ponies,” he said. “The money is secondary for me.”

Shade sighed. It was an admirable trait in the doctor, no doubt, but it was irritating for Shade at the moment.

“Just take the money. You deserve it anyway.”

The doc shrugged and levitated a bag to a table drawer nearby. “Well, okay. But I still have to open the clinic. With what’s happening in the city, I’m expecting more ponies today than usual. I can put you and your mare in my own room; nopony would see you there if that’s what you’re afraid of.”

Shade thought about it and finally agreed. If nopony saw him and Fleur in the clinic, then he had no problem with the doc seeing his patients. With the doc’s help, he put Fleur on his back and carried her upstairs. The doc’s room was good by the local standards with a high-quality bed, which is where Shade laid the mare.

There was nothing left to do but wait, so Shade’s thoughts wandered to dark places. What if Fleur died? He touched her hoof and it was still warm, thanks to the potion. But since it was experimental, there was no telling for how long it would work. If Sketchy didn’t return in the next hour, Shade decided he would bring her to the Canterlot Hospital on his own.

Happily, Sketchy burst into the room ten minutes later, breathing heavily and without his armor. Shade looked at him in surprise — the pegasus looked much smaller without the bulky armor he’d been wearing before. He tried to catch his breath and his expression was unreadable.

“Insect is on your side,” Sketchy said and Shade sighed in relief. “However, your plan to ambush her has failed. She was sitting in the secure manor for the whole night, waiting for Celestia or Luna to appear, and it would be suicide to attack her then. After her victory tonight, she addressed the soldiers, so they’d know who’s in charge now. Plus, after Celestia and Luna finally appeared a few hours ago, leading a counterattack, Insect’s ponies got cold hooves after seeing the fight between them. You probably saw it too — the big explosions, lighting and all that. Tenebris won and the Princesses retreated back to their castle.”

Shade nodded solemnly. Well, this plan hadn’t worked and he had no other one to try at the moment. For now, his priority was to find a way to save Fleur.

“Where is your armor?”

“I got rid of it,” explained Sketchy. “The ponies were giving me hostile looks because of it; I just couldn’t stand it.”

“You idiot,” cursed Shade. “You were supposed to use that armor to blend in with the other soldiers.”

“It was more trouble than it was worth.”

Shade growled in frustration at the dumb pegasus. Didn’t he realize he’d put them at disadvantage?

“Relax, Spidey, we’re more likely to attract attention with that armor than without.”

Spidey?! Just because he’d been temporarily removed from power, it didn’t mean some low pony could give him silly nicknames and get away with it. In one quick stride, he stepped close to the startled pegasus and looked him straight in the eyes.

“You will address me as Mr. Spider or master. Got it?”

Sketchy backed away rapidly, but Shade was already regretting his surge of rage. Nothing would stop the pegasus from just abandoning him, leaving him to fight alone against the odds. He could get away with treating his subordinates like that before, but now…

“Sorry, Sketchy. I… overreacted.”

The pegasus stopped and nodded curtly, accepting the apology.

After that, Shade asked him a lot of questions about everything he’d learned on the trip. The city, obviously, had been taken over by his forces, except for the castle, which was the royalty’s stronghold. But Shade was more interested in the Hospital. Unfortunately, Sketchy didn’t know anything about that.

“There should be a proper doctor there who would be able to help Fleur,” Shade said.

“We can go there openly,” Sketchy said. “From what Insect has told me, they don’t have enough forces to patrol the city and most of their ponies don’t know what you look like. Just remove your spider cutie mark; it’s too obvious.”

Shade glanced at his flank, where an artificial mark of the spider was displayed and nodded. It both symbolized his status as a high-ranking member of the organization and assured that his true cutie mark wouldn’t be seen by anypony. There was no point in keeping this secret now.

After a trip to a bathroom, the mark was deleted, revealing a black crown underneath. Sketchy looked at it with interest, seeing it for the first time. He didn’t seem to recognize Shade’s real identity, which wasn’t surprising — he wasn’t widely known in the first place.

They were ready to go now.

***

A journey to the Hospital was a tiresome and a risky endeavor. Usually, the two stallions trotting on the streets while the one was carrying a mare’s body at his back would have drawn some attention, but after today’s events almost nopony cared. Everypony had their own problems to worry about.

Despite Shade’s earth pony strength, he got tired soon. He wasn’t used to carrying heavy stuff in his position as a criminal boss, but he couldn’t order somepony to do it for him. Sketchy looked like he would break like a twig if some additional weight was added to him.

Finally, the Hospital’s main building appeared in Shade’s view. His heart fell immediately at the sight before him — a pair of soldiers stood by the entrance, checking everypony who was coming in. He didn’t know if it was related to him or not, but he had to assume they were after him and Fleur.

“Damn,” commented Sketchy.

Shade quickly considered the options in his mind. “Go in alone and find the doctor specializing in magical injuries,” he ordered. “Explain everything to him and bring him outside. I’ll be waiting nearby.”

Sketchy glanced at Shade like he’d gone crazy. “Even if I manage to do it somehow, do you really think he’ll be able to fix Fleur up right in the middle of the street?”

“No,” Shade lowered his ears, “But he’d be able to examine her and tell me what I should do to save her. If bringing her in proves to be absolutely necessary, we’ll find a way.”

“I’ll do my best,” promised Sketchy and hovered to the entrance, while Shade disappeared behind the corner to avoid the soldiers’ attention.

The side alley he was in was empty and had a dead end, so nopony was really using it. Shade carefully put Fleur on the ground. His heart clenched, seeing her like that in such a poor condition. He really hoped the doctor would be able to help her.

Shade was pacing around nervously, waiting for Sketchy return, but the pegasus wasn’t coming back. Of course, the Hospital was pretty big and with all the chaos it wouldn’t be easy to locate the right doctor, but Shade was beginning to worry nonetheless. What if Sketchy had betrayed him and had just run away? No, that didn’t sound right. From the little time Shade had known him, the pegasus had appeared loyal enough.

A whole hour had passed, until Sketchy finally came back; no doctor in his tow.

“Where is the doctor?”

“Well, I asked around as you wanted, but he’s not here. He was at the royal palace tonight and is likely still there.”

Shade cursed. The royal palace was still under the Princesses’ control, and with the city taken over, the doctor would likely stay there until the end. Fleur didn’t have much time. It had been almost a whole day since she’d been given the potion and its effects wouldn’t last for long.

He tried to come up with other options, thinking about some other doctors, but he didn’t want to waste valuable time just to find out he had chosen the wrong one. No, this specialist in the palace was his only solid chance.

Fleur had to get in there.

Shade’s identity had remained secret — nopony there would recognize him for the crime lord he was and Fleur herself was a well-known noble in Canterlot. He would claim that she’d been hurt in the night clashes and stay with her until she was able to leave on her own.

He just hoped that Tenebris wouldn’t have stormed the castle by then. From what Sketchy had gathered, she’d been evenly matched in the fight with the Princesses. They’d retreated only to avoid the destruction of the city due to their magic battle. A lot of buildings in the Guard’s Headquarters district had already been demolished and with the powerful spells they had exchanged, the body count would be large if they continued that way.

“If the doctor is in the palace, then we’ll go there,” Shade said with an air of finality.

Sketchy didn’t argue. In fact, he was excited to hear that. Shade asked why, and he answered, “I’ve always dreamed of meeting Princess Celestia in person, now I’ll finally have my chance.”

Shade frowned — such sentiments were unfortunate, but the bulk of his forces knew nothing about their organization’s plans to dethrone the Princesses, so he could have done nothing about that before. And to oppose Sketchy on this now would be foolish.

He loaded Fleur onto his back again and they went in the palace’s direction. The closer they got to the palace, the fewer ponies they saw on the street. Soon Shade learned why — Tenebris’ forces had set up a blockade of every street leading to the palace. It explained the lack of patrols he’d expected to see in the city; most of the army was concentrated here.

That posed a serious problem for them, however. There was no way they would be let into the palace. Shade was ready to fight through them directly, but he had no weapons and there were no less than half a dozen soldiers at each post. He and Sketchy would be slaughtered.

“How do we get in?” Sketchy asked.

Shade thought about the answer for a few seconds. “Fly up and see what post looks the weakest. I’ll wait here.”

“What, do you plan on attacking them openly?”

Shade shrugged. He didn’t have much of a choice. He just hoped that Sketchy wouldn’t abandon him at the prospect of battle. The pegasus nodded solemnly and went to do as he’d been ordered, while Shade prepared to wait again.

It was getting close to the evening — they’d spent hours wandering around the city. His back was tired from carrying Fleur all day, but he endured it stoically. He glanced at the unconscious mare — her condition appeared to be unchanged, which was a good thing, considering the circumstances.

Shade was still contemplating his strategy, when Sketchy landed nearby. The pegasus looked anxious with a wiggling tail and flapping wings. Shade raised his eyebrows in question.

“Some group of ponies has broken into the city!” he explained. “They took out the guards at the gate and are coming to the castle now. I think they’re planning to fight through one of the posts.”

Shade couldn’t believe his luck. Just when he thought that his chances of getting into the castle were nonexistent, something like this happened. Perhaps fate itself wanted him to succeed. He jumped on his hooves with renewed energy and Sketchy led him to this mysterious group, explaining the details on the way.

“No, I don’t know who they are,” Sketchy said. “They don’t look professional, I think it’s some local resistance to help the Princesses.”

That thought spoiled Shade’s mood a little — even though those ponies had the same goal as him at the moment, ultimately they were his enemies. Sketchy took to the air a few times to look for the group and soon they were just a turn away from them. Shade stopped Sketchy just behind the corner and gestured him to be quiet. They listened.

“…There are just five ponies at each post. We’re going to fight our way in,” a mare’s voice said.

Shade took a risk and peeked from behind the corner. His mood dropped rapidly when he saw who exactly was in the group — Sundae and her accursed friends. If they got into the palace together, there was no way he was going to pass for a law-abiding citizen. They all knew who he really was.

But getting into the palace was the only way Shade could save his marefriend. Even though they probably considered him the very essence of evil, he was sure they wouldn’t deny the help Fleur needed. On the other hoof, he would be put in the dungeon as soon as the Princesses learned of his role in the events.

That would put an end to his plans. Years of work and all for nothing. But ultimately, Celestia and Luna’s rule, as bad as it was, was better for Equestria than Tenebris’. And Tenebris had stolen his organization anyway…

Shade decided that he would do everything in his power to stop her, even if it meant he had to work against the very organization he’d built. That was a decision Shade didn’t take lightly, but it was a necessary one. Maybe he wouldn’t be even sent to Tartarus himself as a reward for helping the Princesses.

But the main reason was that Fleur was about to die if he stuck to his delusions of power for any longer.

“That’s a dumb plan,” Shade stated loudly, even though he’d wanted to do the same just a few minutes ago. “But I have a better one.”

He didn’t, really, but he needed to say something to stop Sundae from attacking him at the first sight. Her face changed from worried to shocked upon noticing him and she and her friends tensed up. The ponies accompanying them didn’t know what was going on, but they prepared their weapons just in case.

“I understand that you see me as your mortal enemy, but our goals are similar at the moment,” Shade said deliberately slowly, using the moment of surprise.

“Our goals?” Sundae repeated stupidly.

“Unleashing Tenebris may have been the biggest mistake of my life,” Shade sighed. “She…She’s not the pony I thought she was. I will help you to stop her.”

Part IV - Chapter 18: The Key to Success

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Chapter 18: The Key to Success

I was shocked.

My heart kept telling me that it was some kind of trickery, but my mind could see the fallacy of such logic. Shade could have easily ordered his troops to capture or even kill us. There was absolutely no reason for the Doctor to endanger himself by appearing before us personally, without even a weapon.

Besides, if he planned to attack us, he wouldn’t be carrying an unconscious mare on his back. He wore a tired expression on his face and breathed heavily, like he’d been carrying that mare around the whole day.

So I waited.

“When I learned what Tenebris really wants, I rebelled against her,” said the Doctor. “But… It didn’t go as planned and my marefriend ended up badly wounded. The only pony who could save her is in the palace. Together we have a chance of getting inside.”

Looking him in the eyes, my heart changed its earlier opinion. It felt like the Doctor was telling the truth. But before I could share my thoughts, Ruby sprang into action.

She advanced towards the Doctor, so I had to snatch her wavering tail in my teeth to stop her. Ruby glanced back at me; her face in a frown. Knowing my friend, I could guess what she was planning to do.

“Ruby, if he wants to help, we should let him,” I said firmly.

I noticed a flicker of surprise on the Doctor’s face — he had probably expected me to hate him. I would be lying if I said I could forgive him at a moment’s notice, but our situation was pretty desperate. If we rushed to the soldier’s post on our own, a lot of us would be hurt. So if the Doctor, our worst enemy prior to this point, was offering his help, I was ready to take it.

Starlight, however, wasn’t taking any chances. She ordered our ponies to surround the Doctor and his pegasus friend. They did so at once, pointing their various weapons at him. If he tried any funny business, he would be stabbed from every direction. But Shade ignored the ponies around him, looking straight at me.

I broke the eye contact and addressed Starlight instead, “I think we should consider his offer, Starlight.”

“We can’t trust him,” she rebutted. “He’s behind all of this!”

I nodded in agreement. That fact couldn’t be denied.

“Obviously. But he wouldn’t have come here alone if he had a choice. I think he’s telling the truth.”

“Well, yeah… Probably,” Starlight shrugged. Then she furrowed her eyebrows. “But even so, he should die for what he did to you and the others.”

My ears dropped. I didn’t like this newfound bloodthirstiness from Starlight. Sure, the Doctor was pretty rotten, but we shouldn’t just kill him in cold blood, especially if he was basically giving himself up at our mercy! I shook my head stubbornly.

“It’s not for us to decide,” I said. “Let’s get into the palace first and let the Princess decide what to do with him.”

Shade’s face froze at the mention of the Princess, while his pegasus friend grinned for some reason. The rest of the ponies murmured in agreement with my argument. Even Starlight appeared thoughtful. In the end, she sighed and said, “Fine…”

“I hope Celestia boils him alive,” grumbled Ruby, too quiet for everypony but me to hear.

Though I sincerely doubted it was Celestia’s style, I let Ruby have her fantasies.

After the agreement, the tension dropped a notch. The Doctor finally shared his plan with us. I personally thought it had a solid chance of success, but it was a matter of our trust in the Doctor, which was basically nonexistent at this point. While I was prepared to trust him, my friends still had their reservations.

“It’s a trap!” exclaimed Ruby.

“Please,” Shade smirked, “If I really wanted to kill you, my minions would have already surrounded and slaughtered you. What’s the point in making some elaborate plans like that?”

Those were my thoughts exactly and it was slightly disturbing to hear them from the Doctor. It was like he wanted us to think that way. But the truth was the truth, I guess…

“Maybe you’re just a sick bastard who wants to see us all die personally,” Ruby thrust a blaming hoof at him.

The Doctor slowly looked down on her foreleg touching his chest. His tail was twitching from barely contained anger and I half expected him to break Ruby’s limb like a twig. Shade was a large stallion, a whole head taller than Ruby. Her face fell when she realized the danger she was putting herself in.

Everypony tensed up again.

“Get your hoof off of me,” Shade growled. “I’m helping you, so stop with your crazy accusations.”

Ruby took a step back, but instead of calming down, she lowered her ears like an angry cat and reached out for her sword. I quickly stepped between the two of them before anypony did something rash.

“Both of you stop,” I said, stomping my hoof on the pavement. “We’re in this together here.”

“Yeah, let’s do this finally,” Detective Seeker, who was tending to a wounded Lyra, spoke up. “Lyra doesn’t look good.”

We all glanced at Lyra and Fleur lying beside her. My eyes were on Lyra — the bandages on her wound were soaked with blood and her bright green color looked much paler. Reminding them about the lives at stake seemed to diffuse Shade’s and Ruby’s anger. I nodded to the detective gratefully and she returned the gesture.

The conversation continued in a constructive manner. After hammering out a few remaining details, we were ready to implement the plan.

***

The dying mares were left behind under the watch of a few of our Ponyville volunteers.

Shade and Starlight were trotting confidently out in the open, straight towards the soldier’s post, which blocked the way to the royal palace. They were noticed pretty soon, which wasn’t hard, considering the whole street was empty. The soldiers drew their weapons and went to meet the fools who dared to break the curfew.

That wasn’t smart, but according to Shade, he’d had trouble finding a lot of competent recruits for his secret army. The discipline was the main problem, which these soldiers were demonstrating. The only explanation for their victory was the element of surprise and, though I didn’t want to admit it, the poor state of the Equestrian military.

Everything was going according to plan so far.

Using thin passages between the houses and, sometimes, breaking through somepony’s place, we took our positions at both sides of the street, getting ready to ambush the enemy. The Doctor and Starlight lured them out of their defensible position — fighting them at the barricade would be too hard for our little untrained team.

My coat was hopelessly stained from all the crawling. The passage was too small for two ponies to go at once, so I was all alone as the first pony in a single file. Ruby was right behind me. Sometimes, I felt a slight tugging on my tail and heard some chewing sounds. What in the name of Celestia was she doing?!

I looked back sharply, but she was gazing at the wall; the very image of innocence. Disappointed, I turned back to watch the street, ignoring her questionable activities back there.

When the enemy group of soldiers passed by in front of my vision, I slowly stepped out onto the street. Ruby and the others were following quietly — we were going to attack them from behind. Starlight and Shade just stood away from us in the middle of the street, waiting for the soldiers to approach.

We outnumbered the enemy two to one, but they were much better equipped. Even worse, Starlight and I didn’t have our magic. It would be a tough fight.

Catching the right moment, I gave the signal.

Seeker dealt the first strike. She launched her sword handle first like a missile at the pony before her, hitting him on the back of his head. The soldier wasn’t wearing a helmet, so he fell face down on the pavement, knocked out. The remaining four soldiers turned back to face us, forgetting all about Shade and Starlight, which was a big mistake.

Using their distraction, the two quickly drew their weapons and engaged the soldiers from behind. The unfortunate bastards were quickly overwhelmed; I didn’t even get the chance to hit anypony myself. Only one of them survived — the one who was dropped first. I didn’t feel any regrets.

It was either them or us.

I was just relieved that none of our own ponies had been hurt in the short fight; it had gone better than I had expected.

“Good job, everypony,” Starlight said, looking over the corpses.

Then she moved to the unconscious enemy, still holding a bloody sword. I blocked her path and she gave me an annoyed look.

“What?”

“Let’s capture him alive,” I said. “He may know something useful.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Sundae,” Shade said from behind and I turned sharply to face him. “I know much more and I’m willing to share. We don’t need him.”

Ruby suddenly stepped beside me and laid her foreleg over my back.

“We’re not like you, Shade. We don’t kill helpless ponies.”

I ignored the fact that Ruby didn’t mind killing off the enemy before, being happy at her support. Even if it was caused by her desire to oppose the Doctor, rather than true mercifulness. Starlight sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Fine,” she said. “But you’ll carry him yourself.”

I huffed stubbornly. Since Ruby was the stronger one, we loaded the pony on her back, stripping him of his armor beforehoof. The pieces of the armor were distributed among the group — it would be useful to examine its magical properties later. After a short argument, we decided to loot the rest of the armor as well.

We carefully took it off the bodies, while two of our ponies went to collect the wounded mares. They returned promptly and we were ready to go to the palace. The whole ambush hadn’t taken much time, but we were worried if there were also some patrols that would notice the missing post.

Shade and his pegasus friend had no idea, so we didn’t waste any more time. My heart beat faster when we crossed the open area between the city district and the palace itself. We were in plain view to everypony here; it was only a matter of time until the enemy noticed the intrusion.

The shield didn’t let us in, of course. It was impenetrable for Tenebris herself, so we had the same chance against it as flies beating against glass. Thankfully, the commotion we had caused was noticed soon by the Royal Guardspony patrolling the wall.

“Go away, civilians,” he waved his hoof at us. “The Royal Palace is closed.”

“Let us in!” Starlight hit a shield, causing a few sparks. “We have some wounded ponies.”

The Guardspony frowned, eying us warily. “I said, go away. The palace is under siege, if you hadn’t noticed. For all I know, you’re just some spies.”

The back and forth continued for a few more minutes. I watched our back, worrying that somepony from the enemy side would notice us, but everything was quiet so far. Finally, I turned to face the guard myself.

“Look, just go and find your superior,” I offered, but both he and Starlight were too deep into the argument to even notice me.

I knocked on the shield in front of Starlight’s face, producing a lot of sparks. She recoiled, startled, and finally looked at me. The guard did the same.

“We don’t have much time,” I said, looking at both of them in turn. “We’re friends of Princess Twilight Sparkle. Let us in or find somepony who can.”

The guard shook his head, chuckling.

“I know her friends — you’re definitely not them.”

“I’m her student, for Celestia’s sake!” exclaimed Starlight, whipping her tail furiously to her flanks.

“Never heard of you,” the guard deadpanned.

Starlight puffed and clapped her jaws as if she was biting the guard. She probably would have, if not for the shield separating the two.

“What is going on here?” a new voice joined in.

I looked behind the guard and my jaw dropped. A tall, blue mare appeared on the wall. She wasn’t like anypony I had ever seen. Her starry mane was waving next to her, even though there was no wind to speak of. Her horn was also much longer than usual, but the most important part was her wings. She resembled Nightmare Moon from the old tales!

“Princess Luna, the enemy spies are trying to infiltrate the palace,” the guard told her, giving her a salute.

Princess Luna — she was no longer Nightmare Moon, as I remembered — examined us with her intense eyes and her gaze stopped at Starlight. The mare nodded to her in recognition. Then Luna gave the guard a stern look, from which he took a step back.

“Those ponies are not spies, but the friends of Princess Twilight Sparkle,” she said, pointing at Starlight. “You should not assume things on matters you know nothing about.”

The guard melted under the Princess’ stare. He stood silently as Luna cast a spell at the shield, making a hole big enough for us to pass through. After we were all inside, the hole closed. I sighed in relief — we were safe now.

“Thank you, Princess,” Starlight said, bowing her head.

The rest of us bowed to the Princess as well, but she waved her hoof in annoyance.

“I see you have some wounded,” she pointed at Lyra, Fleur and the captured soldier on Ruby’s back. “Fortunately, Doctor Sparkler was in the palace when we were attacked. He’s the best healer in Canterlot. Follow me at once.”

I saw Shade perking up at the mention of the Doctor. I glanced at Fleur — his mare didn’t look well. But on the other hoof, Lyra wasn’t exactly in the best condition either. I hoped Doctor Sparkler, whoever he was, would be able to help them both.

Princess Luna levitated our whole group up onto the wall in one go. I couldn’t help but be amazed at such a feat. We walked past the stubborn guard; Starlight flickered her tail in his face on the way. He threw her an evil stare before continuing with his patrolling as we descended the wall and entered the palace itself.

“Before we go any further — this pony is the leader of this rebellion,” Starlight suddenly said, pointing at Shade.

Luna slowly turned her stare at the stallion, as if noticing him for the first time. To give him his due, he faced her with a calm expression. After a few seconds of their staring contest, he nodded.

“This is true… To some extent,” Shade admitted. “But I’m not with them anymore. Tenebris has assumed my place. I will tell you everything you want to know, just help Fleur.”

“Fleur will be tended to,” said Luna, levitating the mare off his back. “But if you are the one responsible for this disaster, you shall face the punishment for your crimes.”

Having said that, Luna called for the guards. A couple of them appeared from the closest corridor and she pointed at Shade, “He’s the enemy. Put him into the dungeons.”

Shade didn’t resist the arrest. He remained calm while the guards led him away. His pegasus pal stayed quiet, trying to blend in with the crowd, but Starlight pointed him out as well and he was escorted along with his boss. Our captured prisoner was restrained, but was left on Ruby’s back — Luna wanted Doctor Sparkler to see his injury.

While we went to see the Doctor, Luna dismissed the rest of our group. The volunteers from Ponyville were led to the guest rooms by the palace servants. Detective Seeker decided to stick with us, as she was the one carrying Lyra.

After that, we told the Princess all about the fight on Tartarus’ gates, our capture and escape from Twilight’s castle – thanks to Daring Do – our journey to Canterlot… Everything up to this point. Luna was quiet until we finished.

“Daring Do has indeed given us the grave news,” Luna confirmed. “But we didn’t get much time until the enemy hit us.”

“Where is she now?” Ruby asked.

“She left for Fillydelphia to check on her own family soon after we spoke.”

I sighed. I kind of wished to talk with her some more. We didn’t get much of a chance to catch up while in Ponyville. I could see that Ruby felt the same way — she was a friend to both of us after all. But I understood the importance of family. I wondered what was happening in Manehattan with mine…

“This pony I sent to the dungeon, is it Doctor Shade?” Luna asked.

“Yes, Princess,” I answered. “Princess Celestia should know about him.”

“She does. There was an investigation concerning him after Twilight had sent her letter. Unfortunately, our ponies found no solid evidence to connect him to any crimes.”

“No solid evidence?” Ruby burst out. “His pal almost killed us in Manehattan!”

I poked Ruby on her side — what was this mare thinking, talking to the Princess like that?! She used to be Nightmare Moon! But the Princess didn’t get angry, as I was expecting. Instead, she sighed and glanced at my friend with a guilty expression.

“You don’t have to convince me, little pony,” Luna said. “But Celestia says that we need solid evidence for the case to be successful in court. Equestria has become far too bureaucratic while I was gone…”

Ruby mumbled something unintelligible under her muzzle.

“Shade admitted to us that he was behind everything,” I said. “But he got into an argument with Tenebris, whom he freed from Tartarus. He claims she tricked him.”

Luna expression darkened.

“I remember Tenebris and the war with her,” Luna explained. “My sister and I were just fillies back then. It had taken a lot to defeat her then and I’m afraid that Equestria is not ready for her now.”

The rest of our way we spent in heavy silence.

Fortunately, we arrived at Doctor Sparkler’s room soon after that. Luna opened the door without a key, finding the older stallion asleep on his bed. She gently woke him up from his slumber and explained that without him the two mares would die.

Doctor Sparkler did not complain at his sudden awakening. He took one quick look at the mares to realize the importance of the situation. Before deciding on which situation demanded more of his attention, he shot a few questions at us concerning the injuries.

Detective Seeker quickly explained to him everything she knew about Lyra’s wound, while I repeated what Shade had told me about Fleur’s injury and the potion they had given her. Since Fleur was stabilized in her condition, the Doctor approached Lyra first.

I wouldn’t lie — I was relieved at his choice, even though I wished no harm on Shade’s marefriend.

“Now go away,” Sparkler threw at us, getting to work.

I didn’t mind his rudeness if it meant he was going to save my friend. Luna left a few servants who would make sure the doctor got everything he needed for his work and we left him to do his job.

“My sister would want to hear your story personally,” Luna said, as we walked back the way we came. “Daring Do was very brief, but she mentioned something about Twilight being in Tartarus. Celestia is quite worried.”

“What she said is true,” Starlight said, drooping her ears. “Tenebris put her and the rest of the girls – except for Fluttershy – into Tartarus.”

Luna nodded in acknowledgment. As we arrived in the chamber where Celestia was, Detective Seeker asked to leave. She explained that she didn’t know anything important anyway and just wanted to get some rest, so Luna let her go, having explained the way to the guest rooms.

Two Royal Guards gave a salute to Luna; she answered with a nod. The Guard opened the door for the Princess and she walked in first; the rest of us were following right behind. I’d heard so much about Princess Celestia from Twilight, so I was excited to finally meet her in person.

We found ourselves in a large room with a big, impressive table in its center. Princess Celestia sat at its head, having a conversation with a unicorn in a fancy golden armor. If I had to guess, he was the general or something.

Their attention switched to us as we walked in. I felt nervous probably interrupting a very important conversation, but Luna approached her sister unperturbed. It wasn’t the first time I saw Princess Celestia — I had vague memories of seeing her from afar on some ceremony back in the past — but I’d never seen her up close.

Despite her being the legendary alicorn who ruled Equestria, I didn’t feel much trepidation. I guess it was Twilight’s fault, since she had shared a lot of stories about her ex-teacher. Those stories had made me realize that she was still a pony like the rest of us, only much older and wiser.

“Your Highness,” Starlight greeted her, making a small bow. Ruby followed her example and so did I. Celestia nodded to us in return.

“Welcome, my little ponies,” Celestia said. “Did you get to the palace safely?”

Her voice was calm His name was Blueblood and he had become the acting Captain of the Royal Guard after his superior had gone missing in the aftermath of the attack. and collected, despite the grave situation outside and her tired looks. Unfortunately, we were bringing only more bad news for her.

“I’m afraid not, sister,” Luna answered for us. “Their friend was badly wounded; Doctor Sparkler is already tending to her.”

Princess Celestia sighed. “Too many good ponies have suffered already. And a lot more will until Tenebris is defeated.”

Before asking us any more questions, Celestia introduced us to the pony she was having a meeting with. His name was Blueblood and he had become the acting Captain of the Royal Guard, after his superior had gone missing in the aftermath of the attack. She didn’t tell us what they were discussing and it wasn’t in our position to pry.

After the introductions were done, we repeated to her the same story we had told Luna, finishing with our capture of Doctor Shade.

“That stallion has given himself up?” Celestia asked, furrowing her eyebrows. “I shall hear what he has to say personally.”

“He said that Tenebris has fooled him, so he wants to help,” I put in quickly.

I felt that Shade deserved a chance to redeem himself. After all, he’d helped us get into the palace. Not that it diminished his previous crimes, including the attempts to kill me, but I wasn’t one to hold a grudge. If Starlight was able to come back from the dark side, then why not Shade?

Of course, Starlight’s actions, though pretty bad from what I’d heard, can’t compare to his own…

Princess Celestia dismissed Captain Blueblood and he left with a sullen expression, dragging his hooves. I watched him go — he didn’t exactly fill my heart with confidence. He looked like he’d already given up.

Our little group, led by both of the Princesses and a guard’s detachment, went to the dungeon where Shade had been imprisoned. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at the fact that the palace had its own dungeon. Despite Equestria’s friendliness in comparison to the human world, it still had its criminals — the recent events were a glaring example of that.

At least, the dungeons weren’t dusty and covered in cobwebs like I would have expected. No, they were pretty clean, if not brightly lit. The Princess’ horn illuminated the place much more than a few torches spread out on the staircase.

The stallion we came for was sitting on a bench in the closest cell; his pegasus companion was pacing on the neighboring one. I noticed the soldier we’d captured was lying there with a bandaged head, still unconscious.

Shade shifted uncomfortably at the sight of our procession, but didn’t stand up to greet the Princesses. Instead, he watched us approach in silence. We stayed silence as well, stopping in front of his cell.

“How is Fleur?” Shade suddenly asked, looking at me.

Everypony’s attention turned to me and I gulped. I wasn’t used to being the center of attention, especially if the two princesses were involved.

“Eh… I don’t know…” I said and Shade’s ears dropped in disappointment. “But the good doctor has promised to help her, so…”

Shade nodded.

“Is Lady de Lis your accomplice?” Princess Luna asked coldly.

Shade narrowed his eyes, but then flattened his expression. He shook his head in denial. Nopony seemed to believe him, including me. Fleur, whoever she was, was obviously important to Shade. There was little chance she didn’t know about his dealings and he had already told us that Tenebris herself had hit the mare with a spell.

Ruby mentioned exactly that.

“Fleur knows little about me,” said Shade. “The poor mare loves me, but she’s not to blame for my misdoings.”

“Misdoings?” Celestia’s voice filled the dungeon. “Is that how you call your crimes?”

I took an involuntary step back from the alicorn’s rage, folding my ears. Her horn flared brighter and for a second a real flame appeared there instead of a magical light. Shade cringed, but then continued to talk, “Whatever you want to call them. I know that you all have a reason to hate me, but I have a good offer for you.”

Celestia and Luna listened without interruptions now. Both of them had probably realized what the Doctor had meant. I knew it too — he was the only pony who knew where our captured friends were and had all the information about the organization he had created. He would be a fool not to use those in exchange for improving his position.

We were right, of course, as that was exactly what he did next.

He demanded a lot — a full pardon for every crime he’d ever committed, no less. In return he would freely share everything we bothered to ask. Celestia, despite her obvious dislike of Shade, seriously considered his offer. She and Luna exchanged a look.

“He can’t just get away with everything!” exclaimed Ruby, seeing what was about to happen.

A harsh glance from the Princess shut Ruby up. Celestia then addressed Shade himself, “You shall tell us everything we want to know. If you tell us the truth, then you and Fleur, if she survives, will be banished from Equestria. You would never return. The alternative is spending eternity in Tartarus.”

“Deal,” Shade agreed quickly.

I realized that he was happy to get even this; he’d probably half-expected his offer to be refused outright. True to his word, Shade told us where our friends were kept first — some small village near Canterlot — and then he revealed the location of the Key of Tartarus.

He didn’t know its exact placement, but he told us it was somewhere in Tenebris’ possession. Not that it was hard to guess for ourselves. But we needed this item to free Twilight and the rest from that damned prison. I had no idea how we would get it back…

Shade’s next words ruined my mood completely.

“The same attack as here should happen in every large city in Equestria,” he told us. “If everything went as planned, our forces have taken control everywhere.”

Celestia flinched at this bit of news. It was truly disastrous if that was true.

“But Tenebris is not in control of my organization as of yet,” continued Shade. “She may have gotten rid of me, but her plans are bound to make some ponies go against her. You need to take her out before she solidifies her control. The rest would squabble for the power.”

“What about the Crystal Empire?” Celestia asked.

“Well, we made some preparations there, but we didn’t have much time, since it appeared out of nowhere very recently,” Shade shrugged. “I figured we would crush it after we took control of Equestria.”

“We could not establish the long-distance connection to Princess Cadence,” said Luna, narrowing her eyes.

“Maybe Tenebris put some spell ward against it or something,” Shade waved his hoof dismissively. “The Crystal Empire should be safe, I guarantee it.”

“We’ve already sent somepony to the north. If they return with some bad news…” Celestia trailed off. “But Doctor Shade is right about one thing — we need to strike fast against Tenebris’ forces and free our cities. I can hold her off the palace for as long as it takes; that would keep her bound to Canterlot. She won’t dare to leave while I’m here.”

“Yes, sister. I will leave to rally our forces in the country at once.”

“No, Luna,” Celestia looked at her sister. “We can’t underestimate Tenebris. If she attacks the palace, both of us must be here to face her. I’m afraid she may defeat each of us alone.”

I shuddered inside. It was one thing to guess how strong Tenebris was, but it was another to hear it straight from the Princess’ mouth. I looked at Shade, who was the reason for all our troubles, wondering what had caused him to do what he did. I held back the desire to ask the question directly; I didn’t want to interrupt the Princess.

“You, Starlight, are the strongest unicorn besides Twilight that I know of,” continued Celestia. “Only you would be able to do what I ask of you.”

Starlight swelled with pride, but quickly deflated, glancing up at her horn. Celestia looked there too and her eyes widened, for the first time noticing the inhibitor ring.

“You’d better take that off fast,” Shade warned from the cell. “Those things can have a nasty aftereffect, I’ve heard.”

I looked at him feeling a coldness growing in my stomach. We’d been wearing those things for more than a day now; I wondered what an enormous headache I was going to have trying to use magic. It seemed like my horn was attracting injuries… I snapped out of my thoughts in time to hear Luna say.

“… remove them. It shouldn’t be too hard.”

The blue alicorn touched the ring with the tip of her horn and concentrated. It took her longer than I had expected, but in half a minute the ring clicked and fell in two halves. Luna caught it before they hit the floor and examined the pieces closely. Her face twisted in a scowl.

“Those items are vile!” she pointed a hoof at Shade, crushing the halves in her magic. “How dare thou make them?”

“Me? I don’t even know magic,” Shade lifted one eyebrow quizzically. “Morning Bright is responsible for them.”

I didn’t like Luna’s reaction and not because I was afraid of Nightmare Moon, who still had to be still somewhere inside of her. Before I could ask what had made her so angry, she turned her attention towards me and repeated the procedure she did with Starlight, removing my ring as well.

Immediately, I felt the magical flow around me. I had never noticed it before, but now it felt like I had been breathing some stale air the whole time, and then suddenly went to a pristine forest after a rain. I felt the urge to cast something simple immediately and so concentrated on the illumination spell. I was prepared for a world of pain, but for some reason no reaction followed.

Not even a few sparks.

“The natural flow of magic should restore within a day, Sundae,” Luna said gently, looking me in the eyes. “You’re lucky it was only on for a day, the damage would have been permanent if it had stayed for longer.”

“Bright assured me that there would be no permanent damage,” said Shade. I glared at him, understanding Luna’s anger perfectly now.

“Then he was either lying or incompetent,” stated Luna without a shadow of doubt. “Such barbaric design was forbidden to use for a reason. I shall add it to your long list of crimes.”

***

Soon we were back in the conference room. On the way here, I tried a few more spells — Luna said that the attempts should accelerate the recovery process — but had gotten no result yet. Starlight had more luck and produced a tiny dot of light at the tip of her horn.

The five of us were sitting around the table and were waiting for what Celestia had to say. She had mentioned the task she had for Starlight, but she hadn’t shared it with us yet. Everypony was curious, including me.

“What do you need me to do, Your Highness?” my friend asked.

“As soon as you get your magic back, I need you to get back into the city and steal the Key of Tartarus from Tenebris.”

Starlight agreed without thinking, despite how dangerous the offer sounded. She’d probably expected something along those lines.

“Thank you, Starlight,” the Princess continued. “I have nopony else to ask, but even if I did, you would be my first choice, Twilight’s student.”

“I understand, Princess. I’ll do it.”

“I’ll come with you,” I said on impulse. I didn’t want Starlight risking her life all alone after all.

Celestia looked at me and I sunk into my chair at the ruler’s attention.

“Your offer is admirable, Sundae, but I’m afraid it would be too dangerous,” she said in a warm, but firm voice. “Only Starlight here is strong enough to withstand Tenebris’ attacks to give her time to escape if it comes to that.”

I drooped my ears, but didn’t take my offer back.

“We’ll have a better chance together,” I simply said.

“If Sundae wants to go, we shouldn’t stop her, sister,” Luna supported me.

We exchanged a glance with Starlight and she nodded.

“I would feel better with Sundae,” she said. “She’s learned to teleport recently, so if worst comes to worst, we can escape from Tenebris together.”

I wanted to point out the fact that my only teleport had been just a few meters forward and I’d fallen on my face in the process, but it wouldn’t add anything to my argument, so I stayed quiet. Celestia leaned her head in, considering Starlight’s words and then nodded curtly.

“Then it will be so,” she said. “Time is of the essence, but you should go only when your magic is fully restored. It would be foolish to go out unready.”

“Can I go too?” asked Ruby.

“It is up to Starlight and Sundae to decide,” Celestia said neutrally.

I glanced at Ruby’s hopeful face, but shook my head. The earth pony was a strong fighter, but she wouldn’t fare well in a magical fight against Tenebris. Of course, we were hoping to avoid a direct confrontation with her if possible, but it was still too risky to take Ruby.

How ironic it was that I had the same objections as Celestia about me earlier, but it was the truth.

“Please, I’d hate to sit here knowing that you both are risking your lives. Besides, I know Canterlot better than both of you. You’ll get lost without me,” Ruby smirked.

A tiny smile appeared on my face. I shared this feeling as well. I didn’t want Ruby to risk her life with us, but it would be cruel of me to leave her hanging in the unknown here, at the palace. I imagined myself in her place, waiting and worrying — and shuddered.

“Fine, you can go…” I said, looking at Starlight for approval.

“The more, the merrier,” she shrugged. “But how are we going to get out of the castle? We can’t just break out like we did on the way here.”

“There are secret passages under the palace…” Celestia began.

***

We spent the night and the whole next day in the palace. I paid a visit to Lyra, who was still bedridden. Doctor Sparkler gave a positive prognosis on her recovery, so I wasn’t worried. We had a chat where I brought her up to speed with what had happened after she had been wounded.

“Too bad I can’t go with you…” sighed Lyra, when I mentioned our upcoming mission in the city.

Starlight’s magic and mine had basically been restored at this point. I even felt good enough to try a teleport, making it across the room this time. My shield spell was improving as well — if it could hold against Ruby’s most powerful bucks, it could survive anything.

“How bad is it in the city?” Lyra asked.

I didn’t want to worry her, but I told her the truth. Celestia had scouts, who used the hidden passages to sneak out into the city, in order to learn how the situation was unfolding. The very first days after Tenebris’ takeover and the city was already plunging itself into chaos.

Tenebris’ first move was to start a whole recruiting campaign, offering anypony to join her growing army. So far, she wasn’t getting much in the way of recruits, but an increasing number of ponies from the poor neighborhood found her offer appealing. The first patrols, made up of those new recruits, were going around the city already. They had no training or serious weapons, of course, but it could make our trip to the city more risky.

It was getting pretty late, so I said my goodbyes and went to my room. The palace was mostly empty with its dimly lit passages, but I remembered the way quite clearly. Halfway to my room, I suddenly stopped in hesitation, as a thought entered my head.

I still hadn’t talked with Shade. Of course, we’d been to his cell a few times, but I felt a growing need to talk with him alone, without Ruby’s angry remarks or Starlight’s snapping. I wanted to really understand his motives.

Just a few days ago, I used to think of him as an evil psycho, but his surrender and the care he’d showed for his marefriend, Fleur, had made me reconsider. Speaking of Fleur, I’d just learned from Lyra that she was recovering as well. The mare was still unconscious, but her life was no longer in danger. If I brought Shade the good news, he would be more inclined to talk.

Having made my decision, I turned in the direction of the dungeons.

It was a little harder to find the right way than I had expected — the palace was a large place after all. Thankfully, I stumbled into a familiar face while gallivanting through the corridors. Blueblood wasn’t dressed in his armor — he had no clothes at all — and appeared to be under the weather.

I could ask him for directions!

“Hello, sir,” I greeted him with a nod. “Would you show me the way to the dungeon?”

The white unicorn looked at me, like he’d just noticed me. I crunched my muzzle, smelling his heavy alcohol breath, and took a step back. On second thought, I should have left him alone…

“A commoner? Here? This part of the Royal Palace is forbidden, you know,” he complained.

He shooed me away with his hoof, like I was some annoying fly. I didn’t like his attitude one bit. Wasn’t he supposed to be on duty anyway?

“I’m a guest of the Princesses, remember?” I said firmly, ignoring his drunk hoof motions.

The unicorn stood there, blinking, and then opened his mouth. I had expected him to say something, but all he did was let out a hiccup. I snorted and attempted to pass by him — there was no point in talking anymore — but he stepped in to block my way. I suddenly realized that he was much larger than me and we were all alone out there.

“It’s because of the likes of you that we’re losing!” he screamed into my face in unexpected fury.

My blood rushed to my head. How dared he?! In a sudden surge of rage, I grabbed him in my magic and lifted him off the floor like a ragdoll. I barely stopped myself from squeezing too hard, but even so he reddened and struggled to breathe.

“You’re the one in charge of the Guard now!” I yelled, shaking him to emphasize my point. “If we’re losing, it’s only your damn fault!”

“But… I’m just a deputy…” Blueblood wheezed out, coughing.

My rage was passing, so I eased my hold on him, but didn’t let go. I wasn’t done yet.

“Get your act together. You’re in charge now; the whole country depends on you. You can’t just get drunk in a situation like that.”

I finally put the stallion down; he fell to his knees as soon as he touched the floor. He gasped for breath and I looked at him apologetically. I shouldn’t have snapped like that, even if he was acting annoying.

“I’m… Prince Blueblood,” he coughed. “You’ll pay for treating me like that!”

His threat sounded silly, since he was the one kneeling before me at the moment, but it made me frown. A prince, huh? I didn’t know Equestria had those. But then I remembered — Rarity had told me about this fellow! He had been quite rude to her at the Gala once. I hadn’t realized it was him at first, but after seeing his bad side for myself, it seemed obvious.

I used my magic to put him back on all fours and he just stood there, swaying from side to side.

“You’ll pay,” were his last words before he left, didn’t letting his eyes off me for a second.

I didn’t pay much attention to his threat. Rarity had publicly humiliated him at the Gala, but he’d done nothing in return. I guess he was more of a loudmouth than an actual threat. I had enemies far more dangerous than him.

One of them was sitting in the dungeon I still didn’t know the direction to.

It took me ten more minutes of wandering around before I found a servant, who explained to me how to find it. Finally, I was there, but another obstacle presented itself. The dungeon guard refused to let me in without an order from the Princess… I smacked myself on the forehead — I should have thought of that beforehoof.

Thankfully, it wasn’t difficult to go from the dungeon entrance to the council room, where Princess Celestia was spending most of her time lately. I was sorry to interrupt her meeting with one of the scouts, but she was kind enough to quickly write a note, which would allow me to freely meet with Doctor Shade.

She didn’t even question my motives — they must have been obvious for somepony wise like her.

I approached the guard again, showing off the note to him and he let me in without further trouble. I refused the torch he’d offered me; the stairs weren’t lit, but I had my horn to illuminate the way; the perks of being a unicorn. It gave out a steady light of the same color as my magic aura. It looked more pleasant than a torch fire. It was brighter too.

The Doctor was asleep on the cot. His accomplices in the adjacent cells were sleeping as well. I hadn’t learned their names and I didn’t feel the need to. My hoofsteps didn’t wake Shade up as I approached the bars. I extended my foreleg and hesitated.

On the one hoof, it was rude to wake somepony sleeping, but on the other this pony owed me some answers. With a sigh, I tapped on the iron bar, producing a loud ringing sound. Shade twitched and flickered an ear. The pegasus in the other cell grunted something and continued sleeping, but Shade lifted his head and looked at me.

“Sundae. I see you’ve come alone this time.”

“Fleur will live,” I said straight away.

Shade let out a long sigh of relief and sat on his haunches on the cot; his back legs touching the floor.

“That’s wonderful news. Thank you for telling me.”

“You’re welcome,” I said. “But I didn’t just come here to tell you the news. There was a question I wanted to ask…”

Shade waited patiently while I was thinking of the right way to say it. But I guess there was no nice way of putting it.

“Why did you try to kill me, Shade?”

“You were threatening my plans, obviously,” Shade shrugged.

I drooped my ears. I should have been expecting that answer, but it just seemed so… typical. Ordinary. You know too much, Sundae. You have to die. That reminded me of the plot of some old spy movies.

“Why did you plan all this? Did you want power?”

“Well, I won’t deny that I enjoyed the power I held, but that’s not why I did it. You wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me.”

“Okay. I guess you deserve to know my reasons,” Shade nodded with a slight frown. “Equestria has become stagnant. Nothing really has changed for centuries. No advances are being made, nopony wants to do anything! Our neighbors think we’re weak and they’re taking advantage of it already. Equestria is a toothless, dying state. Tenebris should have changed it, but… You know how that turned out. Trusting her was my only mistake in all this.”

I listened to this and felt an anger rising up inside me. My tail twitched in agitation and Shade must have noticed it.

“You disagree with me?” he chuckled. “Of course you do. But I don’t care. I agreed to help all of you because I think that Tenebris would make Equestria even worse than it is.”

“Equestria is not in a bad state,” I said, glaring at him. “Celestia has been keeping the country stable for a millennium.”

“Exactly my point,” Shade nodded with a victorious grin. “Maybe you’re not that hopeless.”

I growled, but then suppressed my annoyance. There was no point in arguing with him about the state of Equestria — we’d never see eye-to-eye anyway. Instead, I asked him about Tenebris herself. Everypony seemed to know more about her than me; it was time to catch up.

“She’s a bitch,” Shade stated.

I arched my eyebrow. “I need a little more information than that.”

“Okay,” continued Shade.

The more he talked, the more I realized that I could agree with Shade at least on one thing — Tenebris was an awful pony. I was disgusted to learn about her views on different tribes. Of course, I’d already had my suspicions, but now they were fully confirmed.

The most shocking revelation of all was that Tenebris turned out to be Shade’s grand-grand-a-lot-of-grand-mother. Now I understood why he would be inclined to believe her in the first place. It did not change the fact that it had been the dumbest idea ever though. No pony in their right mind would trust a creature from Tartarus; even if they were family.

Unfortunately for us all, Shade had learned his lesson too late.

I nodded to him in goodbye and left the dungeon. I should get some rest — tomorrow we were going to the city.

***

A loud banging woke me up the next morning. Based on its strength and consistency, I guessed it was Ruby. That and the yell, barely muffled by the thick door, “Sundae, wake up!”

My eyes had some trouble opening. I rubbed them with my hooves and, for a few moments, it felt weird — even after my memory had returned and having lived as a pony for more than a month, I still wasn’t completely used to my eyes being so big. They took up half of my face, for Celestia’s sake!

I finally opened them and looked around the room, ignoring the impatient Ruby outside. I couldn’t see any difference in my vision. Maybe it was because I’d forgotten how it used to be, because my ponified brain considered my vision completely normal, even though it probably was different from a human.

Soon, Ruby got tired of waiting and opened the door herself, since I hadn’t bothered to lock it. She saw me awake and froze, having realized that I’d been ignoring her. Her smile was gone, and her ears sagged a little.

“It’s time, Sunny,” she said flatly.

I immediately felt rotten inside. Waking up had always been a hard process for me; my mind often wandered for the first seconds after waking up. I’d had no intention of upsetting Ruby.

Thankfully, I managed to restore her good mood with my heartfelt apology and a tight hug to reinforce it.

Then my sleepy mind decided to do something totally unexpected — kiss her. Just on her cheek, though, but Ruby jerked at my forelegs and stared at me like I’d bitten her flank off or something. Then she giggled.

“Why’d you do that?” Ruby asked, looking me in the eyes.

I realized how close our eyes were. So awkward!

I took a step back, breaking our hug; a heavy blush blossoming on my cheeks. I had no idea why I’d kissed her myself. Or rather I had… The more I blushed, the bigger Ruby’s grin become.

“Just admit that you love me,” she said, poking me in my nose.

There was no turning back now…

“I do love you… as a mare,” I spilled the beans.

She opened her mouth, looking at me in shock. Oh damn, I’d blown it… I’d misread the signs and Ruby had no strong feelings for me; I was just a friend to her. Why had I done it? Why?!

My heart was beating rapidly; my thoughts driving me into panic mode. I was so caught up in them that I missed it when Ruby got close again and put her forelegs on my shoulders.

“Well, that was unexpected,” she said slowly and then smiled, “But I’ve always felt the same way.”

My heart started beating even faster than when I’d been panicking.

“R-really? I was afraid that your jokes were…well, jokes.”

“Of course not, Sunny,” Ruby said, pulling me closer. “I wasn’t sure if you were into mares, so I was hinting my damndest, but you’re so thick-skulled sometimes! When I finally worked up the courage to share my feelings… you disappeared.”

“I’m sorry,” was all I could answer.

“It’s not your fault, Sunny, it’s the Doctor’s,” said Ruby, frowning. “I’ll never forgive him, even if he claims to be on our side now.”

We shared another kiss, this time taking it slow. I enjoyed the feeling of Ruby’s soft lips, but sadly we had to break it off quickly.

The Princesses were waiting.

***

Blueblood was waiting by the entrance to the council room. Seeing him made me worry. Noticing my reaction, Ruby tensed up. My imagination was running wild, imagining the things the prince could have done in revenge.

He appeared to be sober now and dressed in his royal armor, but I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad sign. He’d probably be more dangerous in his sober state… His eyebrows tilted upon seeing me and he went ahead to meet us.

“Miss Sundae,” he nodded to me, as I stopped.

I looked at him in suspicion. Instead of anger, his face expressed sorrowfulness and his next words were quite surprising for me.

“I sincerely apologize for my misbehavior yesterday evening, miss,” Blueblood said, looking down in shame. “I let the situation get to me and drank too much wine… You experienced the result. But that’s no excuse, of course.”

To be honest, I was shocked to hear this. His apology sounded and felt genuine. Perhaps my earlier impression of Blueblood as a rotten noblepony had been a little hasty…

After all, he’d gotten a lot of responsibility falling on his shoulders out of the blue; no pun intended. That could bring out the worst in anypony.

“I’m sorry too for throwing you around like that,” I said in return.

The Prince chuckled. “That’s okay, I deserved it. Your little speech stung, but when I thought about it later, I realized that you were right. So I hold no grudge and I take back everything I said in my pitiful state.”

“Thank you,” I nodded, ignoring Ruby’s quizzical glance. I’d explain everything to her later.

“After you, ladies,” Blueblood said, opening the door with his magic.

We went through first and he followed, closing the door behind us. Celestia and Luna were already having some vivid discussion going on between each other. Starlight was listening in from her own chair, but wasn’t participating. Our arrival interrupted the conversation, as Celestia offered us seats. I took the closest to Starlight; Ruby settling by my side.

After a short exchange of pleasantries, Celestia cut to the chase. Her scouts had learned that Tenebris had set up a base at Fleur’s manor, just as Shade had told us. With no need to hide anymore, the security of the manor had been increased dramatically, with soldiers openly patrolling the nearby streets. Our guess was that she kept the Key of Tartarus close to her, so it was our task to break into her residence unnoticed and steal it.

It sounded simple as plans go, but the execution would be a lot harder.

“I trust in you, my little ponies,” Celestia said in conclusion.

“May the harmony be with you,” added Luna.

Blueblood’s best remaining guards would watch the secret passage’s exit and make sure we didn’t run into the same troubles as we did coming to the palace for the first time.

“They will come to your support in case of trouble,” the prince guaranteed.

He personally led the three of us to the secret passage.

It was in one of the bedrooms on the first floor. Its interior was typical, the only difference being a large fireplace at the wall. The fireplace’s back held a hidden opening leading down into a tunnel.

Blueblood wished us good luck and closed the entrance behind us. We walked in complete darkness; only our horn lights illuminating the long and dusty corridor. It was obvious that nopony had used it in years prior. After a good ten minutes, we got to a second staircase going up.

There was a basement. A thick spiderweb was hanging from the ceiling and the walls were covered in some growth. Despite that, a group of guards in full armor was waiting for us.

Their leader greeted us.

“Be careful, there are enemy patrols outside,” he warned us. Waving a hoof at the two pegasi in his squad, he said, “My boys will watch you from the clouds. If you run into serious problems, they’ll help you.”

With Starlight’s restored magic and mine, no patrol consisting of the new recruits posed a real threat, but it was good to know we were being watched by a friendly eye. I nodded to the stallion in thanks.

Of course, the best course of action would be staying undetected. We weren’t sure if Tenebris knew we were in the city or had given the orders to look for us, but we assumed that she did.

“Tenebris is looking for powerful unicorns for her own elite guard, I’ve heard,” the Guard said. “That may be your pretense to get in.”

“Thanks, but she already knows our faces…” Starlight dismissed the idea.

When we finally got outside, it was already well into the morning. A lot more ponies were on the streets, but still fewer than when I had first been to Canterlot. They looked uneasy as well — I hadn’t seen a smile on anypony’s face yet, despite meeting quite a few of them.

Our first encounter with a patrol took place on a crowded street. The five ponies walked through the crowd like they owned the place. A red band on their foreleg differentiated them from anypony else, but otherwise they wore no protection. Each of them had a club, which wouldn’t be much use against an armored guard, but was quite effective against a simple pony.

The latter we witnessed firsthoof.

One unlucky — or dumb — young fellow blocked the way of the patrol and openly called them traitors. I didn’t know what he was thinking, but the only thing he’d achieved by that was making those ponies mad.

In a second, they were upon him like a swarm of angry insects, dropping him to the ground by swinging a club at his face. Nopony was raring to help — the ponies looked to the side and pretended to ignore the crime happening before their eyes.

Nopony wanted to be the next to face the club, so to say.

I hated myself for trying to ignore it too. Our mission would be endangered if we brought any attention to ourselves, but saying that to myself didn’t make my guilt feel any easier.

“Hey, douchebags,” Ruby suddenly called, approaching the group.

Ruby had no weapon, but she walked towards them confidently. The group’s attention switched from a bleeding pony on the ground to her. Starlight and I joined her on both sides — there was no point in hiding now. Despite Ruby breaking our cover, I wasn’t mad at her; I felt grateful.

Those savages needed to be taught a lesson.

“What did you call us, horse?” one of them asked, waving his club menacingly.

The random ponies on the street, seeing what was happening, gave us a wide berth. A few of them stayed to watch at a safe distance. Once again, nopony made a move to help, but I hoped they were at least cheering for us.

The mobsters — that was the only appropriate name for those bastards — approached us, half-circling me and my friends. They outnumbered us and that thought made them confident in their victory. Some of them already had a predatory smile, probably imagining the good time they would have by beating us up.

Reality was about to crush their dreams.

Starlight and I both raised our magical bubble around ourselves, which easily shrugged off the clubs’ strikes. A unicorn who was among the attackers shot his own spell, trying to tackle the shield, but it didn’t even shake. I allowed myself a tiny smile.

After exchanging a glance with Starlight, I dropped the shield and put all my power into pushing forward. It was far more powerful than I had expected myself, sending the unicorn flying backwards and rolling on the ground like a ragdoll.

Starlight wasn’t so gentle with her own opponent, casting a spell that sank his hooves into the previously solid ground and then proceeding to hit his face repeatedly. He was helpless against her attacks.

Ruby just tackled her opponent head on and, wrestling the club out of his grip, used it on him instead. My bets were on Ruby in that fight.

The two remaining enemies screamed in rage and tried to take us out quickly, but Starlight teleported away from the swing to behind the attacker’s back and bucked him hard in the flank. For me such a quick teleportation was beyond my abilities, so I just dodged the club the traditional way.

The pegasus before me raised off the ground and dashed at me from the air, but I stepped aside, using my magic to clamp his wings during his flight. He crashed into the pavement and before he could recover, I added a few kicks in his belly. His eyes bulged as his mouth opened in pain.

I felt a strange satisfaction from watching him suffer — he deserved it.

Soon, all of our opponents were lying on the ground, which meant the victory was ours. The small crowd around us cheered loudly at our success. A big smile sprung up on Ruby’s face and she bowed to the crowd, producing even more cheers.

“Let’s go before they send reinforcements,” I cooled off her enthusiasm.

Ruby nodded. She led the way; Starlight and I following behind her. The crowd parted to give us a path. I even received a few pats on my back from random strangers. We’d won the ponies’ admiration, but was it worth breaking our anonymity? The enemy would look for us all over the city now.

We cantered for a few minutes before Ruby stopped in some small alley. It was a rare pony that used it as a shortcut, so it was a good, quiet place to recover.

“We kicked those bastards’ flanks, but now they’ll be looking for us,” I said what was on my mind.

“It was still worth it,” Ruby grinned.

“Well, it was pretty satisfying,” nodded Starlight with a hint of a smile, “But they’re going to tell their friends about us. We should avoid the other patrols from now on.”

Ruby and I nodded in agreement.

“It was cool how you sank that guy into solid stone, by the way,” I said. “What spell did you use?”

“I’ll teach you when we get back to the palace.”

I nodded; it was time to continue on our mission anyway.

Ruby knew the city better than both of us put together, so she showed us a way to Fleur’s mansion using the most deserted streets she could find. We still met ponies on our way, but no patrol had bothered to use them.

Soon, we stood a street away from where Fleur’s old manor was. Here, the street was actually empty; we stood out on it like a sore thumb.

Thankfully, we had a plan.

Starlight cast a chameleon spell on us, which made us practically invisible. Our shapes could still be seen if you looked really hard, so we kept ourselves close to the walls.

The main disadvantage of using this spell was that we couldn’t see each other; we had to move while holding each other’s tails. Slowly, we approached the street where the manor was. It wasn’t nearly as empty — a small crowd of ponies mulled about in front of the entrance gate. As we watched, it opened and a group of five was admitted inside.

Fresh recruits, I thought, shaking my head in disdain. How could anypony willingly serve Tenebris? Especially considering that most of those recruits were earth ponies. To be fair, none of those ponies likely knew what Tenebris really stood for. She’d probably offered a good life if they joined her; the less lucky ponies of Canterlot were only happy to accept.

Of course, some of them, like the bastards we’d beaten up, just wanted to use their newfound power to satisfy their petty feeling of self-importance.

“We could pretend to be the recruits,” Ruby offered in a loud whisper.

I shook my head, but then remembered that I was invisible.

“What if they already know what we look like? We can’t risk that.”

We just stood around and watched the manor for some time, coming up with the best way to get inside. The chameleon spell wouldn’t be very useful — Tenebris had proven that she could see right through it with her freaky eyes. But all the other ideas we had were far too risky to try.

At one point, a couple of soldiers in full armor walked through the gate. Their sets of armor covered them from top to bottom, hiding their appearance completely. Nopony challenged them on their way in.

Idea!

“We should get ourselves an armor like that!” I exclaimed.

“Oh, that’s good,” Ruby said, tugging on my tail in her excitement. “Nopony would recognize us under it.”

“That does sound good,” said Starlight, a doubt in her voice, “But how are we going to get that armor? It’s pretty resistant to magic; it wouldn’t be easy for us to ambush those soldiers.”

That was a weak spot in my plan, I admitted, but which one didn’t have those? It was the only possible way for us to get in, so I convinced my friends to follow it.

The question before us was where we would find a small group of soldiers that was easy to ambush and do it in a way that we wouldn’t damage the armor. The latter was easy as the armor was pretty tough by itself, but the former was a lot harder.

So far, the only ponies in this armor we’d seen were positioned around the castle. Each block post had around five ponies guarding it, but there was no way the three of us could take them out, even with our magic at full power. The soldiers there were also prepared after we’d killed their friends the other day.

It was just too dangerous.

In the end, we chose to wait until some soldiers left the manor. Luckily, it didn’t take long; we saw a group of three walking out – we followed them immediately. The group comprised a unicorn, a pegasus and an earth pony – such a nice representation of tribes – each having their own type of armor. Since we were two unicorns and one earth pony, that would pose some troubles later, but first things first.

It became increasingly hard to keep up with the fast-moving soldiers when they got to the populated streets, so Starlight took off the chameleon spell. Some passers-by gave us a weird glance as we appeared out of thin air, but with what had been happening in the city lately the ponies preferred to keep away. The soldiers were none-the-wiser at our presence.

Soon, it became clear they were going in the palace’s direction — probably to change their comrades at one of the posts. We followed them until about halfway between the palace and the manor when Starlight decided it was the perfect opportunity to strike.

We exchanged glances and gave each other a supportive nod.

A lamppost on the street corner suddenly snapped and fell before the soldiers, startling them. Just a few more inches, and it would have fallen on their heads – which had actually been the intention. Starlight cursed, already preparing another spell.

Seeing the opportunity, I levitated the lamppost off the ground and swung it at the ponies. The unicorn was the slowest one and his legs were swept from under him. He fell, yelling in pain; his foreleg was likely broken at the impact, despite his armor. I frowned — we were supposed to get the armor intact, not all crumpled up.

The rest turned around, noticing us and charged, drawing their swords. I hastily dropped the lamp I was still holding, but I didn’t have the time to protect myself as the pegasus flew right at me, using his wings to give him a boost. My eyes went wide as the tip of his sword pierced my chest.

I felt a slight sting and I slowly looked down, fully expecting to see the gash, but his sword had barely touched me. My eyes widened at the pegasus in surprise, as only now did I notice that he was being held in place by Starlight’s magical aura.

I had almost died!

I took a step back and rubbed my chest — he’d managed to leave a small cut anyway. Swatting the sword to the side, I grabbed his helmet and took it off, while Starlight was grunting, trying to keep the pegasus immobile. A hoof straight into his face knocked him out for good and Starlight finally dropped him.

The last pony was fighting Ruby. It was a one-sided fight where Ruby had to jump like crazy to avoid his attacks, while she didn’t even have a weapon of her own to damage him. But her opponent had no chance against the three of us. Together he was brought down, along with his pals.

As he fell, I ran over to Ruby to check her for any wounds.

“I’m fine,” she waved me off with a hoof.

I still made sure there were no serious or minor injuries, while she was fretting over the small scratch on my chest. It took some convincing to assure her that it didn’t even hurt, which was a slight bending of the truth.

Starlight was still panting heavily; I looked at her in concern. A simple levitation shouldn’t have strained her so much… I asked her what was wrong and she just shrugged.

“It must be the effects of the armor,” she said, nodding at the downed soldier. “It takes a lot more power to pick it up than it usually would.”

It was a reasonable explanation, but I was still worried. I feared that it was the lingering effect of the inhibitors we’d worn. To make sure I wasn’t still being affected by that, I levitated a lamp again and swung it around — a little hard, but it was to be expected because of its weight. Then I tried to pick up the helmet. To my surprise, it felt heavier than a big iron lamppost!

It was amazing how Starlight had been able to hold the pony in full armor for so long.

I shuddered, now fully realizing how close I’d been to death. Seeing my distress, Ruby approached me. I was expecting her to pull me in for a hug, but instead she brought her muzzle to mine and we connected to a kiss. It lasted for a few more seconds, when we finally broke the contact.

Ruby grinned, seeing the blush I was having right now.

I threw a glance at Starlight, who was pretending to look elsewhere, but I could see a smirk on her lips. It made me blush even more. It wasn’t the kiss itself that was so embarrassing — public displays of affection were just difficult for me. Besides, it had just caught me off-guard…

“Let’s get the armor,” I said, redirecting everypony’s attention to the task at hoof.

The street around us had mostly cleared after we began our short fight, but now the ponies slowly started to return. Each of us grabbed a soldier and carried them out of the main street to some back alley nearby.

The citizens were steadily ignoring us as we did so — nopony wanted trouble. Once out of sight, we removed the armor from the soldiers and tied them up, so they wouldn’t reveal our mascarade.

We had succeeded in getting the armor, but as it turned out, wearing it was another issue entirely. The first problem, which was obvious in hindsight, was that the armor was stallion-sized. I put on the helmet and it hung on my head like an oversized bowl. The leg armor felt like I was trying to wear boots a few sizes bigger than my own.

I felt more and more disappointed.

“Well, this is a bust,” Ruby summarized everypony’s feelings.

I sighed. That had been our only idea and we’d blown it. It was always possible to find some more ponies to ambush, but it was an unnecessary risk as the enemy would be ready for it. Besides, I hadn’t noticed a lot of mares among the enemy ranks for some reason.

“Do you know some spell to make the armor smaller?” I threw a random idea at Starlight.

She froze for a moment before giving out a crazy laughter.

“You’re a genius, Sunny!” she exclaimed.

“So can you make it smaller?” Ruby asked, excited.

“No!”

I blinked a few times at Starlight’s answer. If not, then what was with the whole I’ve got an awesome idea display?

“I can’t make the armor smaller, but I can make us bigger,” explained Starlight with a grin.

I punched myself on the forehead — why hadn’t I thought of that? An enlargement spell wasn’t easy, especially on living beings like us, but it was definitely possible for a unicorn on Starlight’s level. Though I wasn’t sure how long her enchantment would survive in close contact with the armor’s anti-magic defense.

Ruby seemed even more excited at the prospect of getting bigger, probably daydreaming about how she would be crushing our enemies under her hoof, but if so, I had some disappointing news. The spell would make us bigger, yes, but our strength and mass would remain the same.

I chuckled, as Ruby drooped her ears after hearing it.

Starlight cast the spell on herself first, but overdid it just a tad. She was resembling Bulk Biceps, the ridiculously large and bulky pegasus I had seen in Ponyville. The second attempt proved to be more successful. After we’d helped her into her set of armor, she looked just like a run-of-the-mill goon.

It was my turn. I felt a little ticklish as I got inflated by Starlight’s magic. After its effects settled, I made a few test steps — so far so good, despite feeling light on my hooves. Ruby was the last one to have the spell cast on her.

“We should hurry,” said Starlight, prompting us to move. “The armor is eating at my spell — it won’t last for more than an hour.”

We went out onto the main street and cantered in the manor’s direction. The citizens’ reactions to our presence was vastly different with us wearing the armor. Ponies gave us a wide berth now, throwing suspicious glances our way.

Soon, the entrance to the manor appeared in our view again. A crowd of ponies was still there, but they stepped aside for us to pass. I nodded to a guard at the gate and he nodded in return. We got into the inner yard unchallenged and continued our walk into the manor.

I looked upon a small training field that had been set up on the lawn. A bunch of ponies were doing their exercises under the watch of their instructor. I guess it was how they tested their new recruits. Nopony gave us more than a passing glance, as they were too busy working out.

We stopped by the porch to discuss our further plan.

“So far so good,” Starlight said.

Ruby shushed her.

“Shut up, you’re going to jinx it!” she whispered furiously.

I looked around to make sure we weren’t drawing unnecessary attention, but everything was quiet. Shade had explained the layout of the manor to us, but we’d never been here before. We quickly went over the main points of our plan, making this porch our meeting place if we had to separate at some point.

“Do you think Tenebris is home?” I asked my friends.

They both shrugged in answer.

“Only one way to find out,” Ruby said. “Let’s go.”

We trotted up the stairs like we owned the place and walked inside.Inside, the manor was rich, but the furniture had a weary appearance, like no pony had tended to it in years.

Starlight continued forward with a confident stride and we followed her closely. I don’t think she really knew where we were going, but we didn’t want to risk stopping the other soldiers we met to ask for directions.

An older pony looked harmless enough, though. We would be able to take him out quietly if something went wrong.

“Excuse me, sir, would you tell us where Tenebris’ room is?” I asked him politely.

The pony glanced at me in confusion. I realized that to properly fit the role of an enemy soldier, I should have been more abrasive, but it was too late now. I repeated the question. After finally getting an answer, we parted ways, but I still felt the pony’s stare at the back of my head.

His instructions were clear enough and soon we stood before the right door. It was easy to differentiate it from any other by Tenebris’ sign on it – a unicorn’s horn with a golden crown.

The pony warned us that Tenebris would be inside, so we came up with a way to lure her out. It would be extremely risky — as basically everything concerning Tenebris — but it was possible.

My heart was beating very fast as I knocked on the door.

It flung open immediately and Tenebris herself stared at us from behind the table. She silently watched us, frowning at the sight of Ruby’s hornless head.

“Your Majesty!” Starlight distracted her, as Ruby stepped out of sight, “My friend and I have heard about your testing and we want in.”

“Good,” Tenebris nodded sharply. “For your own good, I hope you’re better than the rest of that trash that came before you. I’m quite tired of wasting my time.”

I gulped, quietly wondering if I’d made a wise decision. I had no doubt that Starlight would pass whatever test Tenebris would throw at her, but me, on the other hoof… There was no way I would hold to the same standards.

Tenebris stood up and walked past us; a wave of chilly air emanating from her. What was it with her and the cold? I shrugged to myself and trotted behind — to back out now would mean bringing her rage upon myself. Besides, the more time Ruby has to check her office, the better.

I just hoped Tenebris wasn’t carrying the key on herself all the time...

The testing ground was in the big hall, which had seen a lot of such testing recently: its burned walls and broken furniture were telling. Tenebris stood on the opposite end of the room and gestured somepony to stand before her. I exchanged glances with Starlight and she stepped forward.

At first, Tenebris began with simple blasts which Starlight was supposed to block or reflect. My gifted friend had easily succeeded in that challenge. I could see by Tenebris’ perked up ears that she was hopeful.

Without any warning, she threw an especially powerful ice bolt at Starlight, but her shield held up against the assault and the bolt was destroyed, spreading the ice pieces all around. A few of them whistled just past my ear, but I ignored it. A confident smile grew on Starlight’s face.

“Good job,” Tenebris nodded in approval. “One more test left… Attack me.”

“I’m sorry?”

“You will be if you don’t follow my orders,” snapped Tenebris.

Starlight shut her mouth and lit up her horn. I could see in her expression that she was seriously contemplating using this unique opportunity to throw something really nasty, in the hopes of taking down Tenebris for good, but I shook my head slightly when I met her eyes.

Tenebris had survived Celestia’s and Luna’s rage — she would survive against any attack Starlight could muster.

Thankfully, Starlight understood that and settled on something simple instead. Her horn charged and a torrent of fire shot from it. Tenebris met it halfway with an ice wall. I covered my eyes from the hot steam spreading all over the room. When it dissipated, I saw that the ice had done the job of stopping the fire.

“Excellent!” Tenebris said. “I can see a lot of potential in you; even in old Unicornia you would be considered a powerful unicorn. Now it’s your friend’s turn.”

I couldn’t see Starlight’s expression behind the helmet, but she shifted uncomfortably when Tenebris mentioned me. She knew I wasn’t strong enough to pass Tenebris’ test.

Unfortunately, I had no other choice. Until Ruby gave us the signal that she’d acquired the key, we had to distract the self-proclaimed queen for as long as possible.

Tenebris was watching, her eyes sparkling, and I stepped forward. “Good luck,” whispered Starlight. I barely registered that, as I walked past her and took her spot in front of the mare. I was transfixed by her gaze. What would she do if I failed her? Nothing good…

I stood with my legs wide and braced myself for whatever she was going to throw at me. My body was tense, so I forced myself to relax by breathing in and out. Tenebris was nice enough to give me the time to prepare.

When I was ready, she started off with simple attacks. Of course, coming from her it meant that I had to use all my concentration just to survive. Surprisingly enough, my shield was able to protect me from any harm, except for a slight headache. I knew Tenebris hadn’t used her full power against me, but she seemed to be satisfied with my results nonetheless.

My body was all sweaty under the armor and I was panting heavily; using a lot of magic was akin to trying to lift a mountain. My helmet slid over my eyes and I lifted my hoof to correct it. Suddenly, I realized that my helmet was fine — my head had just gotten smaller. Starlight’s spell was wearing off!

The helmet was yanked off of my head and thrown to the side.

“You!” Tenebris exclaimed, recoiling in surprise.

“Ah, yes! I’ve decided to join you after all!” I shot out the first thing that came to mind.

Tenebris stopped a moment away from blasting me to oblivion. A doubt flickered on her face and her horn stopped its menacing glowing.

“Really?”

With the corner of my eye, I saw Starlight, still under her enlargement spell, take off her helmet and stand beside me. She hadn’t acted yet — we both knew that it wasn’t a fight we could win.

“Yep. That’s why we came here,” I said. After a moment I added, “But we have one condition.”

“What is it?”

“Remember my friend, the earth pony? Her safety should be guaranteed.”

The mare narrowed her sparkling eyes, but didn’t reject my offer out of hoof. Of course, the whole thing was a lie and I was just trying to buy us some time; it was preferable to direct fighting. And it seemed to be working.

“Of course. If this is what it takes to get you two to join me,” Tenebris said.

I was surprised at her accepting my fake offer, but I suppose she really wanted the unicorns for her little team. Judging by her earlier words, she hadn’t had much of success finding some suitable candidates.

Despite who Tenebris was, it still felt good that she considered me a worthy candidate after all.

At that moment, Ruby finally gave her signal.

A cracking of fireworks that Ruby set off in the yard distracted Tenebris for a second, but that second was enough. As planned, Starlight and I teleported simultaneously back to the entrance, where Ruby was awaiting us. She waved a key chain with a lot of keys before my eyes as we appeared, grinning happily.

Before I could let out a sigh of relief, a wave of coldness blew over my back. Even before turning, I knew what I would see there.

“You lied to me,” Tenebris said calmly.

A shudder ran over me from the sound of her voice. It sounded calm, but I could almost physically feel the rage hidden under it. Even if there were no guards approaching, I knew we stood no chance.

We were doomed.

Part IV - Chapter 19: The Lesser Evil

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Chapter 19: The Lesser Evil

“This time I’ll kill you myself,” Tenebris announced.

Her horn charged up with powerful magic, but we were fully prepared for the following attack. Starlight’s protective bubble appeared around us in a moment; I poured my own magic into it to reinforce it. Even so, we were barely able to hold it when Tenebris unleashed her magic.

We had to do something. Anything!

I noticed a quick movement out of the corner of my eye and something hit Tenebris on her head. She recoiled, gasping in pain, and stopping her assault just moments before our shield collapsed. I was exhausted; a glance at Starlight showed that she wasn’t doing much better — it wasn’t a fight we could hope to win.

“Fire!” Ruby screamed.

Taking Ruby’s words literally, Starlight released a torrent of flames at the distracted Tenebris. I heaved, struggling to mirror her action, but all I could produce was a measly fireball. A couple of seconds later Starlight stopped the fire, as clouds of steam had formed in front of us, obscuring our vision.

Starlight conjured a gust of wind to clear it out and we all saw Tenebris standing at the same spot encased in a large block of ice, which had protected her from our attacks. Her eyes glowed at us even from the inside.

She wouldn’t be stuck like that for long.

“Let’s go!” said Ruby, grabbing my hoof.

I looked around, but Tenebris’ soldiers were approaching us from every direction. Even if I’d had the strength left to teleport, Tenebris would just follow our trail. To give us some time, Starlight grunted and concentrated her magic on the block of ice, covering the trapped mare in more layers of it.

It would only delay the inevitable.

Thankfully, the enemy soldiers were hesitant to attack. After witnessing our seeming victory over their boss, they just didn’t have the courage. Of course, there was no way for us to take them on all at once, even if we had taken Tenebris out for real — there were at least ten ponies in armor and a similar number of fresh recruits armed only with wooden clubs. I put a confident grin on my face and looked at the soldiers in contempt.

“Give up now and we will spare your lives!” I yelled at the top of my lungs.

The soldiers exchanged unsure glances, but made no definitive action. They could see the ice around Tenebris melting at an alarming rate; her left foreleg was already exposed. It would take only around a minute, maybe even less, for her to free herself. And when she did, we’d be toast.

Despite feeling light-headed, I tried to gather up the strength for a teleport anyway, seeing no other choice, but it was simply impossible. I wouldn’t even be able to save myself, not to mention my friends. And there was no way I would leave them here.

Suddenly, Starlight grabbed both me and Ruby and, in a flash of light, we flickered out of existence. When we materialized again, my spirit was crushed upon realizing that we hadn’t actually moved an inch. The soldiers began to approach again, with predatory grins.

“I’m sorry…” Starlight groaned, holding her head. “I’m all out of magic.”

As soon as she said it, I heard a whishing sound; it was coming from behind me. Before I could look back, something strong had grabbed me around my barrel and was carrying me away with a crazy speed. I pressed my legs close to my body — the pieces of oversized armor falling off — to avoid hitting the fence.

I screamed in shock and began to kick around wildly in a desperate attempt to escape whatever predator had grabbed me. Even more terror filled my heart as we got higher up — I would be a splat on the ground if I fell from that height! I continued to struggle against the firm grip despite realizing that, the panic making it hard to think clearly.

“Will you shut up?!” somepony yelled right above my ear.

I shut my mouth and finally looked up. A pony face was frowning down on me — I recognized him as one of the pegasus guards. I immediately froze. So that was who was carrying me while I was screaming like a mad filly… How embarrassing.

“Sorry,” I said, lowering my ears. “Where are my friends?”

“They’re right behind us.”

I had to take his word for it, as I didn’t want to risk moving anymore. I glanced down at the buildings that looked so small from here and squinted my eyes shut. I held myself completely still now, lest the pegasus were to drop me. The only thing keeping me from certain death were the pony’s forelegs around me.

“Relax and enjoy the flight,” he chuckled.

That was easy to say for somepony with wings… I ignored his advice and remained that way until we had finally landed on the solid ground. Or at least a roof, as I noticed when I opened my eyes. My friends landed next to me, carried by their own pegasi. I felt a knot in my stomach untying — the pegasus hadn’t lied.

“It was awesome!” exclaimed Ruby and jumped at the pegasus who carried her, catching him in a hug.

I felt a ping of jealousy when she awarded him with a kiss as well. Thankfully, it was just on his cheek, but still… I couldn’t allow any wrong assumptions to develop in the pegasus’ feathered mind. I cantered to Ruby and kissed her fully on her lips, throwing a winning side glance at the guard.

The stallion just snorted at the display.

“We’re safe for now, but we still have to get to the castle,” another one said from behind.

As the kiss ended, I looked Ruby over to make sure she’d gotten out of the fight unharmed. She did the same for me. When I’d confirmed she was fine, I finally asserted our surroundings.

We were standing on the flat roof of some building; the palace’s glowing shield was pretty close to here. I looked in another direction and saw the manor’s roof far away. Hopefully, Tenebris wouldn’t follow us here like before — we’d left no teleporting trail this time.

“Thank you for saving us,” Starlight said to the trio of pegasi.

After I expressed my own gratitude as well, the six of us climbed down to the ground. We were led through the narrow streets to the entrance of the hidden path to the palace. A disguised guard, who was observing our approaching, joined our little group as we got into the abandoned house. I allowed myself to relax.

“So has your mission been successful?” the officer in charge of the guards asked.

Ruby took the keys out of her saddlebag and waved them in front of his face with a happy grin. Everypony else looked at the Key in scrutiny though. It looked exactly like real Key we’d been shown on the pictures, but it could be a well-made fake. It would have been embarrassing for us to go through all this trouble for a fake.

“Is that it?” the officer reached his hoof to take the Key, but Ruby snatched it away and put it back into her saddlebag.

“I’m going to give it only to the Princess,” she said firmly.

***

“This is indeed the real Key.” Princess Celestia’s words put me at ease.

We were in the council room again, despite the exhaustion we all felt. Starlight had warned me that it was dangerous to deplete your magic reserve like that, but it was nothing a good night’s sleep wouldn’t be able to handle.

“Good job, everypony,” Luna said, bowing her head slightly. “I received the report saying that you have faced Tenebris herself. It’s an admirable feat of heroism.”

“Or stupidity,” Starlight pointed out. “The pegasi who saved us are the real heroes.”

“I will commend them for that feat,” Blueblood, who was present in full armor, said. “But there is no point in denying your achievements. Tell me, how did you manage to stand up against her?”

“It was me,” Ruby announced with a smug grin.

Everypony looked at her astounded; her grin only got wider at the attention. I was perplexed at what she had meant myself, before she explained, “I threw my helmet right into her face.”

“That’s what it was!” I exclaimed.

Ruby’s quick thinking had saved our lives, I suddenly realized. Starlight and I would be dead if she hadn’t come along. I gently nuzzled her neck to show my appreciation, as she caressed my ear.

A polite cough made me snap back to attention, blushing. Everypony in the room was looking at us two, hiding their amused smiles.

“So, what should we do with the Key?” I asked more as a distraction, rather than out of any real need for that knowledge. I mean, it was obvious we were going to use it to get into Tartarus.

It worked.

Everypony’s faces turned serious again as my question sparked a discussion. Its conclusion was exactly as I thought, but the question was when and how we would get there. Everypony agreed that it should be done as soon as possible; Tenebris was growing stronger every day.

But with somepony as powerful as Twilight on our side, our chances of victory over her would grow stronger as well. Not that it was the only reason for saving our good friend and Celestia’s old pupil, of course.

“What about Discord?” Ruby asked out of the blue. “He’s supposed to be our ally, right?”

Celestia was thoughtful before answering. “That is so, but he’s known to disappear for weeks at a time. I believe only Fluttershy has a way to talk with him.”

“Well, if she did, she wouldn’t still be captured,” Starlight shook her head.

“Then I don’t know. Although I hope that Discord will lend a hoof against Tenebris, we shouldn’t think that he’ll be able to solve all of our problems with a snap of his fingers. He is not as strong as he used to be.”

“Not as strong?” Starlight frowned in confusion.

“The Elements of Harmony have changed him, just as they have changed me,” Luna said. “While Discord is still very much powerful, he is not stronger than Celestia or myself.”

“Even so, it would be good to have him here,” Ruby sighed.

Luna just shrugged in return.

The meeting ended soon after. I went straight to my room, dreaming of my soft bed; my eyes were already closing of their own accord. Ruby trotted along with me, in case I fell asleep in the middle of the corridor.

As it turned out, it was a solid concern.

Ruby opened the door for me and I walked in, my eyes glued to the bed in front of me. It looked so soft and inviting. My friend followed inside, closing the door behind her.

“Why are you still here?” I asked, falling on my bed. Its softness was what I would have expected from the royal palace’s guest room.

“Is that how you treat your marefriend when she wants to share a bed with you?” Ruby pouted jokingly.

My eyes snapped wide and my mouth hung open. Ruby giggled, seeing my reaction. I frowned in confusion — sometimes it was hard to understand if Ruby was serious or not. Before assuming anything, I asked, “By sharing a bed you mean… sex?”

“Only if you want it,” nodded Ruby.

I wasn’t sure I did, at least not at the moment. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to feel Ruby’s hot flank or her strong, muscular and rounded body with her soft, azure coat… I caught myself ogling her and switched my stare to the wall behind her.

“I would love to…” I began carefully and paused, not sure how to phrase it without upsetting my friend.

“I feel a but,” Ruby filled the pause, drooping her ears.

“However, I’m exhausted,” I finished. “I would probably fall asleep in the middle of the whole thing.”

Ruby laughed. “Yeah, that would be a buzzkill,” she said, wiping a tear, “Still, I would be happy to just keep you company while you rest.”

Without waiting for me to agree, Ruby walked around the bed and climbed on it, settling by my side. Not that I would reject her presence, of course. I snuggled closer to her.

It didn’t take long for me to fall asleep in her warm embrace.

***

The bright sun woke me up in the morning. Blocking the merciless sunrays with my hoof, I finally cracked my eyes open. An involuntary sigh escaped my lips as I saw that I was alone in bed. My memories were blurry, but I was sure that Ruby had been cuddling with me before I’d fallen asleep. Perhaps it’d been a mere dream…

The door opened and the mare of my dreams walked in, balancing a tray with food on her back. Seeing me awake, her ears dropped slightly and she whined.

“Damn, I was hoping to give you a surprise breakfast in bed!”

I couldn’t help but smile. She grinned in return while carefully setting the tray on my bed. A strong smell of tea with lemon coming off it was breathtaking — it was just the way I liked it. A piece of some pie was also on the tray. I levitated it close to my muzzle to give it a sniff.

“I baked it myself just for you,” Ruby announced with pride.

“Really?”

“Sure,” the mare shrugged. “Come on, take a bite.”

I didn’t need to be asked twice. It was delicious! I knew Ruby was a good baker, but she’d outdone herself this time; I moaned in delight. Ruby smiled even wider when she heard the sound. She watched me finish the pie along with the tea, but when I was done, I was still hungry.

“Starlight warned me that you would have quite an appetite when you woke up,” Ruby told me. “Let’s go, I couldn’t carry the rest; it’s waiting for you in the kitchen.”

The breakfast waiting for me was a pretty simple meal and small as well. The palace was switching to siege rations, as Ruby explained. She’d had to wrestle with the cooks — figuratively speaking — to get the ingredients for her pie as it was. I waved my hoof to stop her apologetic speech; I understood the situation and didn’t mind.

After the breakfast was over, I offered for us to visit Lyra together; Ruby happily agreed.

We went to the room where the mare was recovering. Thanks to the amazing skills of Doctor Sparkler, the mare’s recovery was going well. Though she wasn’t allowed to walk on her own yet, she could use her magic to ride on a wheelchair instead.

Lyra was mindlessly roving around her room, bored out of her wits, when we walked in. She was elated to finally get some visitors.

“That was awesome, Ruby!” Lyra said after we shared the details of our adventures yesterday. “I wish I’d been able to go with…”

“It wasn’t all that fun when we were about to die,” I said, frowning at her enthusiasm.

“Oh, come on,” Ruby bumped me on the shoulder. “It was pretty awesome.”

I shrugged, “I guess…”

Ruby’s words made me realize how woefully unprepared I’d been for the fights we’d gotten ourselves into. Tomorrow, we would go out again to save our friends, but today Celestia gave us some time to recover after our magical exhaustion. It was a good opportunity to learn some more spells that could be useful in the future. Who knew, maybe it would save my life tomorrow.

I decided to visit the Royal Library, which was thankfully inside the palace’s protective bubble — if I could learn some new spells anywhere, it would be at that place. I’d heard a lot about the Library from Twilight and it’d been my dream to visit it ever since. Lyra was happy to join me, since she had nothing better to do, but Ruby wasn’t so excited.

She grimaced when I shared my plans with her.

“Spend the day reading books? No, thanks,” she shook her head. “I’d better go and lend my hoof in the kitchen.”

I shrugged — books weren’t for everypony. Besides, Lyra turned out to be a big reader herself, though she’d been slacking in that activity for the past few years. With her injury, though, reading would be her primary way of spending her time for a while.

It turned out that she knew the Royal Library like the back of her hoof; she used to visit it frequently while she’d been studying at the School for Gifted Unicorns, as she explained me on the way. I felt a ping of jealousy — I wasn’t gifted enough to be accepted at the School when I’d been a filly, that was why I’d had to go to The Canterlot College of Advanced Science. Who knew how my life would have turned out if I’d never met Doctor Shade there…

I forcefully threw those thoughts out of my head; there was no point in dwelling on the past.

“There’s the defense magic section,” Lyra waved her hoof at the row of shelves.

I trotted towards them and examined the displayed books more closely. Some of the titles I’d already read before, but a lot were unfamiliar and probably far to advanced for me yet. I picked one book anyway — Unicorn Magic: A Guide to Survival. It sounded promising enough, so I sat behind a table and dove right into it.

When I finally stopped reading a few hours later and looked around, Lyra was nowhere to be seen. I sighed, rubbing my tired eyes; she’d probably left a long time ago. Putting away the book, I stretched my whole body, stiff from prolonged sitting. The book was well-written, but I realized that I already knew a lot of things described in it from Starlight’s lessons.

It wasn’t a total waste of time, though.

There was one thing in particular that piqued my interest — the void stone. It was the ultimate magic defense, as the book claimed, but as much as I looked through the rest of the book, I couldn’t find any more information. According to it, such a stone was extremely rare and the writer found it unlikely that a reader would possess one. Damn it…

The ultimate magic defense sounded like something that would greatly improve our chances against somepony like Tenebris. I had to learn more! I didn’t want to waste my time combing through the other books, hoping to find something, when there was a simpler way — ask somepony with a lot of knowledge for help. And who would have more knowledge than a thousand-years-old Princess?

Usually, an audience with the Princess would have to be scheduled weeks in advance, but one good thing about the palace being besieged was that the Princesses had a lot of free time on her hooves, as it was impossible to hold a traditional court. I learned that Celestia was in her own chambers from one of the servants and, recalling my earlier misadventures in this maze of a palace, I asked this pony to lead me there in person.

The servant led me to the right door without trouble. It displayed a big sun in its center. It looked so pretty that I was sure it was made out of actual gold. My hoof reached forward of its own accord, but stopped when somepony gave a polite cough. Two imposing guards stood by both sides of the door, watching me unamused.

“Is the Princess waiting for you?” the left one asked.

“Uh, no,” I answered honestly. “But I really need to ask her something important.”

“You cannot enter then,” the guard told me in an even voice. “She gave orders not to interrupt the meeting she’s having.”

My ears drooped. “I see. How long would the meeting take?”

“I wasn’t told, but it just started a couple of minutes ago.”

Mumbling my thanks, I turned around and left. I had no intention of waiting for hours for the meeting to end, so I went to the second best source of information I knew — Starlight Glimmer. I found her on the outer wall of the palace, close to the barrier. She was looking at the city with a gloomy expression.

I asked her about the void stone, but her answer was disappointing to say the least.

“I have no clue what this stone is,” she said flatly. “Where did you hear about it?”

I told Starlight what I’d read in the book, which wasn’t much. As I’d expected, my description of the stone as the ultimate magic defense caught Starlight’s attention too. She offered to help me find out what it was the hard way — by going through the books one by one.

Together we returned to the Library. Only now did I realize that such a big place was supposed to have a librarian, but none was around. The pony was probably out in the city with no opportunity to get back to work. Too bad — the librarian would have helped us greatly. Without help, we had to go row by row until we found the Geology section. Starlight and I each grabbed a big stack of books and started reading.

We were at it for hours, pausing only to get some snacks, but shoveling through dozens of books we still found no mention of the void stone. I was engrossed in another book, when somepony suddenly spanked me on my flank. With a yelp, I jumped up, the book flying off due to my surge of magic.

“Ruby!” I roared, hearing the giggling mare behind me. Looking back, my guess had been confirmed.

“Sorry,” she grinned along with Lyra, who was here as well. “I just can’t believe you’re still here. It’s been almost the whole day!”

I levitated the unfortunate book back into my grip and examined it for any damage. Thankfully, it was okay. With a sigh, I explained to both mares the reason Starlight and I were stuck in the Library.

“It doesn’t have to be a literal stone, you know,” mused Lyra, rubbing her chin. “We should check the Alchemy section, I think. The stone might be artificial.”

It was as good a theory as any, so I put my stack of books back on their shelves and took one from the Alchemy section. Lyra joined in on the search and even Ruby had decided that it was worth her time. I was reading through the outline of the third book, when a phrase caught my eye. I returned to this line and read: anti-magic amulets. After turning to the right page and reading it, I realized — it was a hit!

“This is it, girls!” I shouted, breaking the silence of the Library.

Everypony dropped what they were reading and crowded around me. I read the page out loud, feeling more hopeful with each paragraph. It was describing the void stone in great detail. Rather than it being a natural stone, it was made artificially, just as Lyra had thought. Making it was quite a complicated process, requiring a set of unique ingredients.

When I turned to the page and read out the list, all my hopes went down the drain. Heart of a young dragon, horn of a unicorn foal, blood of an earth pony… The list went on and on. I finally stopped and shared a look of disgust with my friends.

“Somepony would have to be a bloody serial killer to collect all this stuff,” I said, shutting the book in frustration. “The stone is a big bust.”

“Don’t be so hasty,” Starlight said, opening the book again at the same page.

I looked at her, aghast; the others were mirroring my reaction.

“I’m not suggesting we make one!” Starlight waved her hoof in annoyance. “But somepony has probably done that before. We could find and use a stone that’s already been made.”

“I don’t think there’s a big supply of them,” Lyra chuckled nervously.

I grew thoughtful at Starlight’s words: this was actually a good idea. It was out of question that we’d make the void stone ourselves, but it would be foolish not to consider using an existing one… It would basically neutralize Tenebris’ magical advantage, allowing us to win with no needless bloodshed.

“We should ask Celestia,” I announced. “If anypony knows it, it’s her.”

“Yeah, let’s go,” Starlight supported me. “The meeting she was having is probably long over by now.”

Lyra and Ruby weren’t so enthusiastic, but they joined our procession to Celestia’s chamber. The same pair of guards greeted us by the door, but this time they allowed us to knock. A moment later, the Princess herself opened up.

Celestia looked distressed, but she put on a warm smile when she saw us. She had no regalia on her, but her stance was regal all by itself, even in the privacy of her own chamber. The Princess welcomed us in and I trotted into her room with trepidation; probably not a lot of ponies could claim they’d been here.

I sat on a couch she offered us. It was soft and comfortable, but I concentrated on the task at hoof.

“So, the void stone…” I began, but choked on my words when Celestia’s warm smile was replaced by a cold stare. I gulped.

“Where did you learn about this item?”

“The Royal Library,” I answered quickly, surprised at her reaction.

“I see. I know what is on your mind, my little ponies,” she said, giving each of us a stern glance, “But I’m afraid this is not the way to defeat Tenebris.”

“But why?” Starlight said, barely keeping the annoyance out of her voice. “It would completely stop her from using magic. We would smash her like the bug she is!”

The Princess frowned. “I will not allow you to create something so vile, even if it is for a good cause. That is out of question.”

I laughed, suddenly realizing what the problem was. Unfortunately, not everypony understood the cause of my good mood; Ruby gave me a painful jab to the side. I shut my mouth and glared at her confused face. Then I explained everything.

“We’re not planning to make one, Princess,” I said. “We just want to know if there is an existing stone which we could use.”

“Oh,” Celestia opened her mouth for a moment, but quickly gathered herself. “I apologize for assuming. The meeting I’ve just had must be making me judge other ponies a bit too harshly…”

“The meeting, Princess?” Starlight asked.

“My long-time adviser and friend has just admitted doing something bad for a good cause,” Celestia said, with no elaboration. I had no idea what she had meant, but I felt like I shouldn’t pry. “Anyway, there is no such stone in existence, as far as I’m aware. It was created by a dark alchemist in the past, who is now locked in Tartarus for his crimes. All his work was destroyed at my order.”

My ears flattened hearing her words.

Wait a second… It was our goal to go to Tartarus as soon as we were able to. Perhaps we would find this alchemist and ask him if he had any more stones hidden somewhere! I didn’t share my thoughts to the rest for now. Celestia would likely forbid it and I didn’t want to go against her orders.

The rest of the evening was spent with us having some amazing tea with the Princess, while discussing more pleasant topics. It helped us all to reclaim some of our good moods, which had been a rarity lately. I got to my room when it was already dark outside.

Ruby, of course, was right here with me.

“How do you feel?” Ruby inquired politely.

“Pretty good, actually.”

“Want to feel even better?” she asked in a smug voice.

I felt Ruby’s hoof rub my flank and I understood immediately what she was implying. The last night I’d been too tired to even think about it, but now the idea of sleeping with Ruby filled my insides with a warm and pleasant feeling. My tail rose slightly in excitement and any tiredness I had had vanished.

Putting on my most alluring smile, I asked, “What do you have in mind?”

***

It was hard to make myself get out of bed the next morning. After a full night of activities with Ruby, I wasn’t feeling all that well-rested, but the experience had definitely been worth it. I smiled, looking at her sleeping face, and poked her muzzle.

She scrunched it.

“Go away,” Ruby mumbled.

Impassively, I continued to poke her until she finally fully woke up. She grunted and complained, but in five minutes she was ready to go. One of the benefits of being a pony was that the clothes were optional. Even though it had bothered me a lot at first, now I found it pretty neat.

Starlight and Detective Seeker were already waiting for us near the armory, where our quest would begin. The Detective had asked to join at the last moment and everypony had agreed. Prince Blueblood himself was there as well. Together, we went inside to see rows of royal guard armor.

“We need some light armament for these good mares,” Blueblood said to the quartermaster.

The pony in charge of the armory nodded and disappeared behind the backdoor. Soon he returned, carrying four sets of gear. He presented them to us on the table.

“These are a light version of the standard royal armor,” the pony explained. “The border patrol uses it.”

I examined it closely: a thin chestplate, some croup protection and greaves to protect the legs. There was also a light helmet, which I put on first. The rest of the armor followed. I moved around a little — it felt more comfortable and easier to use than the enchanted armor our enemies wore. A sword went with the armor.

“Awesome,” Ruby said as she got into a set of her own.

After Starlight and Seeker did so as well, we were ready to go. Prince Blueblood thanked the quartermaster and led us to the dungeon. Princess Celestia herself was talking with four of her guards; all of them were pegasi as I’d noticed. Luna hadn’t arrived yet.

“These fine stallions will go with you,” Celestia pointed at the pegasi guards after we’d exchanged our greetings. “Good luck, little ponies.”

***

Getting out of the city wasn’t hard — the stairs led straight from the dungeon to the base of Canterlot Mountain. I was a little winded after the long descent, but tried not to show it. I glanced at Detective Seeker with a ping of jealousy — she had as much endurance as Ruby, even without an earth pony heritage.

As we walked, I called to mind our plan. The first thing we had to do as we got outside was to free Fluttershy, Marcus and Spike — they were supposed to be in the nearby village Shade had told us about. The second part of our plan was to go to Tartarus. Our pegasi companions had carried a chariot along with them to speed up our journey there.

Unfortunately, it had been left in the cave for the moment.

We didn’t risk using the chariot so close to the city because of enemy pegasi patrols which were watching the airspace around Canterlot Mountain. Having made sure that the exit was clear, we trotted out and closed the hidden door behind it. I looked back, but couldn’t see any signs of an entrance in the rock face of the mountain.

“We need to hurry,” said Starlight, “Before they move them into the city.”

I nodded curtly. With no further talking, we trotted down the path. The village should be really close if Shade was to be believed. Our friends were supposed to be unharmed and even though I was sure he was telling the truth, the Doctor had been out of the loop for a few days. I quickened my pace; Starlight was right to worry.

Our pegasi guards flew over our heads, watching the sky. We had to duck into the bushes a few times when they noticed the patrols, but otherwise our short journey was uneventful. Soon, the village appeared in our view.

It was small, with half empty streets. Ponyville was a bustling metropolis compared to this place. We searched through the village, getting a few suspicious stares from the locals in the process, until we finally found a house that matched the Doctor’s description.

The house appeared abandoned to an outsider, with the windows boarded up and a decaying roof, but we knew the enemy would be inside. That is if it wasn’t some elaborate trap. Starlight had her suspicions, so we did not approach the house openly, remaining just out of sight if somepony from the inside was watching.

“So, what is our plan?” I asked aloud.

“Break down the door, kill the baddies, save our friends,” Ruby said, marking each point with a tap on the ground.

“That’s a solid plan,” Detective Seeker said. “But we should act effectively and ruthlessly. Given the time, they would use the hostages against us.”

Ruby frowned at her plan being criticized, but listened to the improvements Seeker offered. She had no practical knowledge, of course, but her education as a police officer had included hostage situations. Before anything else, however, we had to learn how many enemies were awaiting us there.

“I’ll go ask the locals if they know something,” offered Seeker and we let her.

While she was doing her task, we observed the house. It showed no signs of life and some doubts began to crawl into my mind. Maybe our friends weren’t there anymore. If they had ever been there to begin with… Perhaps I’d been foolish to believe the Doctor after all…

My depressing thoughts were interrupted by the front door suddenly opening. A lone pony wandered outside; he appeared to be doing some exercises. After a few minutes of push-ups and stretching, he returned inside. Everypony watched him intently while he was out, but we decided against a blind attack.

Our friend’s lives were on the balance.

Soon, Seeker returned with the valuable information she’d learned. The locals considered the house suspicious, so they were trying to avoid it. Even so, they’d see the two ponies who were staying inside it when they made rare trips into the village itself to buy some food or have a drink.

That was encouraging. If they were acting like that while guarding the important prisoners, they were clearly not the best ponies for the job. Not that I would complain, considering the circumstances. Of course, there might be a third pony who stayed inside at all times…

I shared my thoughts with the rest and Seeker agreed. We would have observed the house more to make sure, but time was of the essence here, so we proceeded with our rescue mission.

Hidden under a chameleon spell, we slowly approached the house. It had only one door, which was likely locked. It didn’t stop us, of course. With a powerful yank from Starlight, the door was torn off its hinges and thrown outwards. The guards rushed in first with us following right behind.

Both of the enemy soldiers were sitting behind a table playing cards, and were absolutely astonished at our sudden appearance. Despite that, both of them took up their swords, preparing to mount a defense, but as more and more ponies poured into the room their courage took a crippling hit.

The pegasi guards weren’t taking any chances.

It was a quick fight with four versus two; the rest of us didn’t even get the chance to intervene. One of the enemies lay on the wooden floor, staining it with blood from the wound in his chest, while the other threw his sword onto the floor in surrender, seeing his friend going down. He got a heavy blow to the head, knocking him unconscious just in case.

We’d been victorious, but it was too early to celebrate. Starlight blew up another door and galloped inside first, preparing to crush anypony standing in the way between her and her friends, but I heard no fighting. What I heard instead were my friends’ voices.

I rushed behind Starlight to see them with my own eyes and a big wave of relief washed over me when I saw them unharmed. Sure, they were still in chains, but they showed no signs of being tortured or something like that. It looks like they’d been treated well.

I noticed Sturdy Peak, the changeling guard, was here as well. He tucked himself into a corner and glared at our pegasi guards suspiciously. He had his disguise ability on, so to an outsider he looked just like a typical pony. I decided not to blow his cover just yet.

However, the changeling wasn’t my top priority at the moment. My eyes went to Marcus. He looked back at me and I rushed forward to embrace him in a hug. I felt my eyes getting wet — I was so happy to finally see him again! He grunted and I weakened my grip – it wouldn’t be nice to squish the life out of him just after saving him from captivity

“What took you so long?” he said with a happy grin as I finally released him.

“That’s the most overused line I’ve ever heard,” I answered, booping his nose jokingly.

I heard a cough behind me; looking back I saw Ruby’s frown. She was not amused at my open affection towards Marcus, but remained quiet otherwise. I shrugged and turned back to Marcus, examining his chains. I probed them with my magic and then tried to tear them apart. The chains squeaked, but remained in one piece.

I sighed in disappointment. Starlight gave me an apologetic glance as she mirrored my attempt, but with much more success. The chain finally broke and Marcus was free. She repeated the process with the rest of the prisoners, hesitating slightly when it was the changeling’s turn.

“Come on, you still don’t trust me?” Sturdy said, drooping his ears.

“You haven’t given us a lot of reasons to,” countered Starlight.

The guards and Detective Seeker watched the exchange in surprise — they didn’t know the true nature of Sturdy as a changeling. I approached Starlight and put a reassuring hoof on her withers.

“He’s on our side, Starlight,” I said firmly.

She shrugged, mumbling something unintelligible, finally breaking the chains. Fluttershy helped the changeling to get up on his hooves and gave him a warm smile which he returned.

“What was that all about?” Seeker asked in confusion.

I turned to face her, trying to come up with some plausible explanation to avoid revealing the truth, but it was all in vain as Ruby simply said, “He’s a changeling.”

The guards recoiled in surprise at her blunt revelation. I quickly positioned myself between them and the changeling seeing as they had drawn their weapons. Detective Seeker had a deep frown, but remained much calmer than the guards, who had experienced the changeling invasion firsthoof.

“He’s our ally,” I told them.

“Yeah, right.”

“She’s telling the truth,” Fluttershy supported me, standing by my side.

The words of one of the Elements had some more effect on the guards than my own. Reluctantly, they holstered their weapons, but were still staring at Sturdy Peak with suspicion in their eyes.

I released the breath I was holding, as the crisis had been averted.

Together we exited the barren room. Fluttershy gasped when she saw the pool of blood on the floor. She rushed to the fallen pony and examined his wound. She gave us all an angry stare, which was surprising to see coming from the usually timid Fluttershy.

I shrank under it and felt guilty for some reason. It wasn’t like we were going to leave them like that! I’m sure, somepony was going to tend to that wound eventually… Fluttershy ignored everypony else as she tended to the pony’s wounds personally. Spike was assisting her.

“They weren’t as bad as they could have been,” she explained. “I’m sure they realized that the path they’d chosen was the wrong one.”

“Well, we’re going to get you to Canterlot,” Starlight shrugged. “Might as well bring those two there too to put them in jail, if that makes you feel better.”

Fluttershy nodded her thanks.

The trip back to the cave took us longer — our new captives were slowing us down. Besides, our friends were still stiff after spending days with almost no movement in that room. At least, they’d been well-fed, as Fluttershy assured me. Sturdy Peak walked close to me, ignoring the stares the guards were giving him.

“I’m glad you’ve allowed me to stay,” he said to me.

“I still don’t trust you,” Ruby, who was walking on the other side from me, threw in.

I threw her a pointy stare before returning my attention to the changeling, “You were trying to help us before. And we need all the help we can get against Tenebris.”

“Fair enough.”

While we walked, Starlight briefly explained to our friends everything that had happened while our friends had been held captive, finishing the story with Tenebris taking over Canterlot.

“Oh my, that sounds really bad,” Fluttershy said, folding her ears.

“You’ve faced worse with Twilight,” Spike patted her side.

“I’m not sure they have…” Starlight began, but seeing Fluttershy’s downed expression, stopped. “Eh, sorry. Spike’s right.”

Soon after that, we arrived at the cavern. The guards went upstairs first to deliver the new prisoners into the palace, while we stayed behind to talk privately. Starlight addressed everypony.

“Well, here we are,” she said. “You should stay in the palace while we rescue Twilight and the others.”

The little dragon raised his eyebrows. “What? I thought we were going with you.”

“It’s too dangerous, Spike,” Starlight shook her head. “Tartarus is likely guarded by Tenebris’ soldiers. There will be violence.”

Fluttershy sighed. “She’s right, Spike. As much as I want to go, I’m not sure I’ll do well if somepony tries to kill us…”

“Well, I’m definitely going,” Marcus stated firmly.

I looked at him, thinking about how to carefully talk him out of this, but in the end, we decided not to. I’d wanted to talk Ruby out of going with us in Canterlot and she ended up saving our lives. So if Marcus wanted to go, I wasn’t going to argue. I gave him a nod.

“Fine,” said Starlight. “But only if our pegasi are okay with carrying you in the chariot. You’re pretty heavy, you know.”

“I’ll go too and make myself useful,” Sturdy Peak said. “I can fly, so I won’t take up any space.”

Starlight was reluctant to allow it, but Fluttershy and I supported him, so Starlight gave up.

Fluttershy and Spike wished us good luck and went upstairs. When the guards returned, the ones of us who had stayed behind boarded the chariot. Two pegasi strapped themselves in, while the other two hovered besides it. They grunted, taking off the ground, and started to gain altitude quickly.

Once in the air, my fear of flying returned with a new strength. Grabbing the rail with my hoof, I deeply regretted my lack of fingers for the first time in weeks. The hoof grip just didn’t feel as secure. The chariot didn’t even have a roof! What if I somehow fell to the ground? I shut my eyes and dropped my ears to block the outside noise in an attempt to quell my panic.

But I failed.

Somepony embraced me right under my forelegs, but I only gripped the rail harder. I opened one eye, seeing Ruby’s concerned face. Starlight and Marcus were watching me as well. I felt guilty — my friends had enough to worry about other than my silly phobias.

“Why didn’t you tell us you were afraid of heights?” Ruby asked.

“I didn’t know I was,” I squeaked.

A buzzing to my left made me snap a glance in that direction — the changeling was hovering there. I shut my eyes again.

“Don’t worry, miss, I’ll catch you if you fall,” Sturdy assured me.

I nodded in thanks, feeling a tiny bit better for my safety. I tried to convince myself that there was nothing to be afraid of. If the chariot was dangerous, Celestia wouldn’t have suggested using it, wouldn’t she? Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to slowly open my eyes.

“How do you feel?” Ruby asked, still holding me tight.

“Don’t worry, I’ll handle the flight.”

I was foolish enough to turn my eyes from Ruby to the outside of the chariot, which proved to be a grave mistake. I lost my breath when I saw the ground so far down below. My head was spinning and my panic returned with doubled force.

“Somepony is chasing us,” one of the pegasi guards announced.

Everypony looked back, except for me. I was afraid that if I did so, I’d lose my grip and fall to my doom. My friend’s curses were enough confirmation for me to realize how bad it was.

“We need to land!” I screamed.

“I agree,” Starlight supported me. “We won’t outrun them — the chariot is too heavy.”

I yelled at the top of my lungs when the chariot suddenly dove down. The ground was approaching with disturbing speed. I barely felt as Ruby tightened her grip on me; I was too busy screaming my throat off. Before we crashed into the ground, however, our descent grew smoother. Soon, we gently touched the road below us.

Without thinking, I gathered the magic in my horn and flashed out of the chariot, appearing on the solid ground a few meters off it. I felt better immediately feeling the good, old dirt under my hooves. One thing was clear now — flying was not my thing.

My friends got out the more conventional way — by hoof — as the pegasi untangled themselves from the chariot. The changeling landed nearby. I realized that he was unarmed and asked one of the guards to give him a spare weapon.

Marcus was given one too, but a sword that was too small for him. It was more of a dagger than a sword in his grip. Out of our group, I was concerned about Marcus the most — he wasn’t a warrior and even though he was much larger than a pony, a stab to the gut was hurtful for creatures of any size.

We’d barely had any time to prepare when the enemy finally caught up with us. The pegasi in enchanted armor were swirling above us, like a bunch of angry bees. I zapped a spell, but missed. I growled, annoyed at my aiming skills.

I counted no less than a dozen of enemy soldiers. It was the same size as our little group, but considering the enemy’s superior equipment, we were at a disadvantage.

One of them gave the order and the fight began.

Everypony dove straight at us at once. Starlight put up a barrier on their way, but it fell apart as ten missile-like anti-magical armor pieces crashed through it. I fell on the ground to avoid being cut down like Lyra. Without looking, I hurled a rock after him, hoping to break the pegasus’ flight.

I had no time to watch the result. My eyes widened when I saw that Marcus hadn’t been as lucky as me — a big cut covered his shoulder. The pony responsible was flying over his head, constantly jabbing with his sword; my friend barely avoided those attacks.

Still lying on the ground, I levitated a big twig off the ground and hit the attacker on his head. It didn’t harm him by itself, but it distracted the pony long enough to let Marcus deliver a fatal stab in his neck. At least I thought it was fatal, judging by all the blood that was pouring all over Marcus when the pegasus dropped like a stone on top of him.

With Marcus safe for the moment, I observed the battlefield. All of my friends were still fighting, but one of our guards had already fallen. Starlight was having some troubles too, as the enemy’s armor made them resistant to her spells; she was slowly retreating with Detective Seeker protecting her flank.

My ear swiveled back as they caught a noise behind me and I jumped to the side, avoiding a sword that would have killed me otherwise. I yelped in fear and hit the attacker on his head, which was protected by a helmet.

It had been a mistake.

Ignoring my hit, he answered with one of his own. His iron-cast hoof connected with my unprotected muzzle and I flew backwards, landing on my back; my legs swaying in the air.

I felt the taste of blood in my mouth and my head rang, but my mind was clear enough to understand the mortal danger I was in. Hastily throwing all my energy to my horn, I focused on one thought — getting away.

As luck had it, I teleported a few meters above the ground just as the pony stabbed the spot where I’d been a moment ago. He froze in momentary confusion and missed Ruby, as she tackled him from behind the same moment I crashed onto the grass.

I jumped back on my hooves just in time to block an attack from the other pony. Backing off, I avoided his next hit and then suddenly launched the sword with my magic, aiming at his neck — it was a weak spot in this armor.

Unfortunately, the pegasus flapped his wings to dodge it. Fortunately, he seemed to forget about my magic. I pulled the sword back, severing his unprotected wing.

The pegasus fell down, screaming in agony.

There was no time to celebrate my little victory, however. I noticed Detective Seeker suffering a powerful blow to the head and falling to the ground, leaving Starlight’s flank unprotected. The soldier raised his sword in triumph and slashed down on the fallen mare. I froze in shock, as the sword went deep into her barrel.

Enraged, I grabbed the killer, throwing him into the ground before he could harm Starlight as well. The effort had taken almost all of my strength due to his enchanted armor and was completely useless, as the pegasus just flapped his wings, standing back on all fours.

He looked directly at me, and was suddenly decapitated.

I gaped at the headless body hitting the ground. Some new ponies had joined the fight. They were obviously on our side. With their help, Starlight defeated her own opponent.

But the fight was not over yet: half of the enemy’s initial numbers were still up and trying their best to cut my friends into pieces. I turned towards Ruby, who was fighting with her own opponent, but the pony wasn’t so easy to take down. He took a hit at his armored leg and counter-attacked, almost slicing Ruby’s throat.

I couldn’t allow it to stand.

Starlight joined me and together we grabbed the pony’s legs with our magic, letting Ruby deliver a deadly blow. After his death, the rest of the enemies realized that they were losing, but it was too late for them to run. They were surrounded and killed in a quick struggle.

“Wait, I surr—” the last one tried to say, but was interrupted by a guard’s sword stabbing his throat.

The fight was over. I rushed to Detective Seeker’s body, hoping against all odds that she was alive, but my worst fears were correct — the poor mare was dead. The bloody sword was still in her body. I gently seized it with my magic and drew it out, laying it on the side.

I sighed, but my eyes were dry. The Detective had been a good pony, but she hadn’t been my close friend or anything. Still, her death left me in a horrible mood.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” one of the ponies who had helped us said. “I wish I’d gotten here sooner.”

I looked at the stallion and his companion who’d basically saved us and nodded. Whoever they were, their appearance was timely. I walked around the field, making sure the rest of the ponies were okay. Other than the Detective, our group had lost one of the guards. The rest had some minor wounds, but nothing excessively dangerous.

My own muzzle hurt — I spat on the ground and saw some blood. I touched my teeth with my tongue and found one of them missing. Damn that pony… I saw Ruby looking at me in concern.

“Are you okay?”

I shrugged. “Yeah, just lost a tooth.”

While we were tending to our injuries, the newcomers finally explained who they were. Both ponies were low-level CSS agents from Manehattan. As it turned out, Manehattan hadn’t been taken by Tenebris’ forces. There had been an attempt, of course, but Agent Clipper’s actions – the silent pegasus I’d met while investigating the Doctor in Manehattan – had helped to avoid any big losses, decimating the enemy’s forces. The destruction of the Doctor’s warehouse, along with all those supplies, had probably played a big role as well; the enemy hadn’t been equipped as well as in Canterlot.

I was glad to hear the news. Not only had Tenebris failed to gain a large recruiting pool for her growing army, but my parents lived in that city. It would have been pretty bad if it had fallen into enemy hooves.

Even so, the situation in the city wasn’t all great. The enemy had managed to take out a lot of important ponies in the city, paralyzing the local government. Agent Clipper had had to assume temporary control over Manehattan. The trains weren’t working for now and the food was becoming an issue, so he’d sent two of his fastest agents to Canterlot to assess the situation.

“We saw these guys chasing a royal chariot, so it was our duty to help,” the agent finished his story.

“Thank you,” nodded Starlight.

The rest of us thanked the agents as well. Ruby even went so far as to give each one a hug. We quickly explained the situation in Canterlot to them and our mission. While they wished us luck, they didn’t join us — they had their own orders. We said our goodbyes and the agents flew in the direction of Canterlot, keeping close to the ground.

When they left, my eyes fell on the changeling. I suddenly realized that I hadn’t seen him actually fighting the enemy. Had he been hiding while our friends had been dying? Fuming inside, I walked up to him and expressed my doubts directly.

“I was fighting,” he said, offended. “I assumed the form of one of the enemy soldiers and attacked him from behind. I killed one, even.”

His explanation sounded plausible, but I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, so I still had some doubts. However, Ruby confirmed his words, so I had to apologize for Sturdy for my assumptions.

“I’m sorry, Sturdy… I guess I’m just shaken by Seeker’s death,” I glanced at her broken body, lying on the grass nearby. Then my eyes went to the other bodies, spread out on the road we had turned into a bloodbath, and felt a little sick.

“I think those guys had been sent to reinforce Tartarus,” Starlight said thoughtfully, addressing nopony in particular. “Since we’ve taken them out, we shouldn’t have any more problems on our way.”

Ruby cringed. “You’ve jinxed it. Now we’re bound to run into something nasty.”

Before resuming our journey, we took the time to bury our fallen comrades. Starlight quickly dug up two holes in the ground with her magic and gently lowered the bodies into it. It wasn’t a proper funeral, of course, but we promised ourselves to return afterwards, when time would allow it, and do it properly.

As Starlight put the dirt above their bodies, I felt like I should say a few words.

“Detective Seeker was a good, honorable pony,” I said, blinking away some tears. “She’d believed me about the Doctor and had tried to help as much as she could. I liked her. She could have been my friend if I’d known her longer, but that won’t happen now…”

I sobbed, interrupting myself. My little speech had opened up some emotions I’d been trying to suppress, and I couldn’t stop them anymore. Ruby hugged me and I cried on her shoulder, as the guards said some words about their own fallen comrade.

It was so shocking to see somepony familiar to me die before my very eyes. Before that, I had only seen some stranger’s death, but it hadn’t affected me quite as much. The scene of Seeker’s death repeated itself in my mind over and over again and I wished I could have done something to prevent it. When I finally calmed down, I felt a tiny bit better.

“Tenebris will pay for that too,” Ruby whispered to me. I nodded in agreement.

After our little ceremony was done, it was time to take care of our enemies. We dealt with them by throwing their corpses into a big hole in the ground. They didn’t deserve anything better for what they did. Thankfully, they all were dead already — no wounded were left among them. If there were, I was not sure we would have helped them…

There was nothing else holding us here, so we resumed our journey. Despite Ruby’s fears, it went smoothly. Our route took us above Ponyville itself and I looked down upon it. My latest outburst had numbed my feelings for a while, so I felt no fear being so high above the ground for the time being. Some ponies waved to us from the ground, but I wasn’t in the mood to wave back.

The whole journey took us only a few hours, when we finally landed on the border of the Everfree Forest. I thought it would be easier to fly over it directly to the Tartarus entrance, but apparently I was wrong. As the guards said — the weather in the Everfree Forest was unpredictable. A sudden gust of wind would easily throw a passenger out of the chariot.

I felt a slight ping of fear just considering the possibility.

Remembering our previous experience of going through the Forest, I was ready for everything. The same was true for the rest of us. I glanced at Marcus, who was walking with his arm gripping the handle of his sword. I would have preferred it if he’d had his old rifle along, of course, but it was somewhere in Tenebris’ possession.

Starlight was leading us, using the Key as some kind of compass. As I’d expected, a few timberwolves got in our way, but they weren’t a threat against us; nopony even got a scratch as we demolished the beasts. After that, the Forest decided that we were not to be messed with, and no more monsters touched us until we reached the Gate.

A statue of a petrified pony stood in the middle of the opening. His friends hadn’t bothered helping him, those bastards. I knew that he was still alive and likely conscious — a petrifying spell like that would keep you alive for years. The rest of the field was empty, with no signs of our first battle with Tenebris. I recalled in shame that I’d been too afraid to participate in it... It hadn’t been my fault. It had been Tenebris’ mind spell.

“Keep close, everypony,” Starlight said and trotted forward.

Heeding her words, we kept very close to her. I didn’t know how far the Key’s protective bubble went, but I didn’t want to risk being turned to stone like that unfortunate stallion. Of course, my friends would rescue me, unlike his, but they’d have to drag my stony body all the way back to the palace to do that. As we got to the door, Starlight opened it with her Key.

Her glowing horn illuminated the room inside. It was empty, except for the big portal on the opposite wall. Despite its fancy looks, I recognized the similarities with the one that had sent me to the human world all those years ago. It was clearly a more advanced model and, hopefully, wouldn’t turn me into a human again.

I cringed, remembering the experience. Being human hadn’t been all that bad, but I would prefer to remain a pony, thanks. That’s who I really am.

“Cerberus is supposed to meet us on the other side,” one of the guards said. “But Celestia’s sigil should make him recognize us as allies.”

Before we’d left Canterlot, Celestia had put a spell on each of us.

“It’d better…” mumbled Ruby, caressing her sword.

Starlight nodded and dove into the portal first. The rest of us waited until her head popped back out, demonstrating that it was safe to follow. And so we did.

Just as the guard had warned, the three-headed beast was standing right there. It looked friendly, as far as a giant dog with fangs could be. Even so, nopony risked coming too close to it. We slowly walked around as its heads watched our movements. One of them suddenly leaned towards me. I froze, preparing to teleport, but the head just sniffed me. Suddenly, it gave me a big lick.

“Ew,” I cringed as his saliva wetted my coat.

Ruby chuckled from behind, “The doggy likes you, Sunny.”

The others chuckled as well and the tension in the group lessened. I rubbed my face off and resumed my walk, smiling too. The big dog followed us all the way until the tunnel got too small for him. Starlight opened the second door at the end of it and we walked inside, leaving the dog outside.

“About time,” an old pony’s voice said, instead of a greeting.

“The Keeper,” the pegasus guard nodded. “I’ve heard you let another one escape.”

I now saw the elder unicorn who stood in the corridor in front of us. He frowned at the guard’s words.

“You could say that,” he shrugged. “But it wasn’t my fault.”

“We’re here to release our friends,” Starlight interrupted the dialog.

The elder nodded. “I’ve gathered as much. Princess Twilight hoped you would come for her. I freed her and the rest from their cells, of course, but without the Key, we can’t leave Tartarus. Since you’re here, I guess Tenebris has been defeated?”

My ears fell and I answered, “Far from it. She’s taken over Canterlot and probably all of Equestria.”

“Yeah, she often talked about doing something like that,” the elder pony said indifferently. “I never thought she would be able to, though. Anyway, come with me.”

Having said that, he turned around and trotted away. We exchanged glances and followed him. He hadn’t said anything about Tenebris’ guards being in the prison, but we were wary anyway. After losing some of our friends, nopony wanted to get into another ambush.

Thankfully, there wasn’t one.

“My apartments,” he announced, stopping at a door that looked the same as the dozens we had passed on our way here. Without further preamble, the Keeper opened it and invited us in. A wide smile grew on my face — Twilight and the rest were here!

“Starlight!” Twilight exclaimed as the mare walked in first. “I’m so happy to see you!”

The two embraced each other in a hug, as the rest joined in. Pinkie Pie squealed in delight and somehow managed to include me and Ruby in it as well, creating a big body pile. After the madness finally passed, I crawled out of it, breathing heavily — somepony’s heavy flank had almost squeezed the life out of me. I glanced at Ruby’s meaty hindquarters; it had likely been her doing…

She noticed where my look went and winked.

Grinning, I turned my attention to the others, examining their condition. Everypony looked fine and healthy, if only a little bored. But our arrival would surely shake up their prison routine a bit. I approached Rarity to give her a personal hug. Other than Twilight, I was the closest to her out of their whole group.

“Sundae, darling, it’s such a joy to see you again,” Rarity said, returning the hug. “But all of us are wondering, where is Fluttershy?”

Her question was heard by everypony and they looked at me for the answer. I was happy to allay their fears by telling them that Fluttershy was safe in Canterlot. Their smiles faded a little, however, when we told them about the situation in Canterlot and the rest of the country.

“I was afraid that she would do something, but this!” Twilight exclaimed. “It’s Tenebris herself! Starswirl the Bearded himself almost lost to her…”

Twilight shook her head in distress.

“I’m gonna kick the Doctor’s flank myself for letting her out,” stated Rainbow Dash, hitting her hooves against each other.

I shook my head. “The Doctor is helping us against Tenebris; he’s in Canterlot, in a cell right now.”

“What? Why?”

I explained to Rainbow Dash – and everypony else – what Shade’s motives were, or at least my own understanding of them. Tenebris considered the earth and pegasi ponies to be inferior to unicorns, and the Doctor was an earth pony. But the main reason was his marefriend Fleur, obviously.

“Fleur de Lis? Oh my,” gasped Rarity. “I thought she was with Fancy Pants…”

“That was just for show, I guess,” I shrugged.

“I dunno about you, but I’m tired of sitting here doing nothing,” said Rainbow. “There is only so much napping a pony can do.”

The rest agreed. Before we left Tartarus, however, I remembered what I’d wanted to do here. I approached Twilight and asked, “Do you happen to know about the void stone?”

“The void stone?” the mare frowned. “Yes, I’ve read about that stone. The ingredients used to create it are gruesome, but the stone’s properties are intriguing. I actually wanted to make one myself…”

I stared at her incredulously for a few moments before she realized what she’d said. Her eyes widened and she hastened to clarify, “I mean, without the gruesome part! What I wanted was to find another way to make a similar stone. The creator of the original stone was thrown into Tartarus for his crimes, you know?”

“I do, actually,” I nodded. “I kind of wanted to ask him if he has any more stones stashed somewhere. They’d be pretty useful against Tenebris.”

“Are you talking about the void stone?” Sturdy Peak approached us. “There is a big one in the hive.”

Twilight tilted her head. “The hive? What hive?”

The changeling paled, having realized his mistake. We knew his true nature, but we hadn’t had the time to prepare Twilight and her friends for such a revelation. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to calm my nerves. When I opened them, I was as calm as a monk. At least on the outside.

“Eh, Twilight, remember Sturdy Peak? He’s a good changeling,” I told her.

The changeling nodded and assumed his insectoid form. It caused as big a reaction as I’d expected. Everypony around stopped their conversation and turned their stares to the changeling; their faces were not friendly.

“A good changeling, you say?” Twilight gave me a cold glance. “Are you a changeling as well, Sundae?”

“Don’t be silly, Twilight,” Starlight intervened. “We’re the real us. And this changeling really did help us. I’m not sure I trust him yet, but he’s been helpful so far, so I’m willing to give him a chance.”

Twilight nodded, relaxing slightly. However, I saw her horn flashing and a wave of warm light washed over us. I felt no different than before. I looked at Twilight in surprise and she smiled sheepishly.

“Sorry, I had to know for sure,” she explained. “So, were you always a changeling, Sturdy, or did you just take on his appearance?”

“I am Sturdy Peak,” he answered with a shrug. “This identity was created specifically to allow me join the guard before the attack on Canterlot.”

The changeling told his story to the rest, once again claiming that he’d lost contact with his hive after the invasion and had lived a life of a simple guard ever since. He was either telling the truth or he was the most ballsy spy I’d ever seen. It would be ironic if he was still serving the changeling queen, while we knew who he actually was.

“I’m keeping my eye on you, changeling,” Rainbow Dash said when he was done with his story.

“Anyway,” Twilight stepped in before it could escalate, “You were saying something about the void stone in the hive?”

“Ah, yes…” Sturdy nodded. “The Queen’s throne is made of this stone. It completely blocks all the magic around the hive except for ours.”

“Really? Very curious,” Twilight said, looking thoughtfully to the side. “In theory, the stone should block all magic, including that of the changelings. Perhaps Chrysalis has made some modifications to the basic recipe.”

“Whatever,” Ruby waved her hoof dismissively. “If you claim to be on our side, can you go and get some for us?”

The changeling looked at her like she’d gone crazy. He shook his head vigorously.

“No, that’s a bad idea. If I return there, Queen Chrysalis would make me serve her again. I don’t want that.”

“Let’s just ask the guy who made the stone before making any decisions,” I said. “Maybe he hid some away.”

Twilight shrugged. “It’s unlikely. Celestia destroyed all of his work when he was locked in Tartarus.”

“There is one in the changeling hive though,” Starlight pointed out.

“Well, let’s go and find out then.”

***

The Keeper showed us to the cell where the alchemist had been put. The old unicorn opened the door with one of his keys and we walked in. Most of the ponies had to stay outside, as the chamber was too small to accommodate everypony, but Twilight, Starlight, Ruby and me went in.

A transparent magical barrier separated the entrance from the main chamber further away. It reminded me more of a working office than an actual cell. It wasn’t anything fancy, but there was a nice bed, some bookshelves and even some chairs. A gray earth pony sat behind a wooden desk, scribing something on a scroll. He looked up as we walked in, lifting his eyebrows.

“Whoa, a visit from royalty,” he chuckled, getting off his chair. “Finally here to release me?”

“This is incredible…” murmured Twilight, ignoring his words. “He’s been here for hundreds of years and he looks just like on the pictures I’ve seen in my books.”

I didn’t like this pony right off the bat — his attitude and the nasty grin he had on his muzzle rubbed me the wrong way. As usual, I kept my mouth shut, but Ruby wasn’t so restrained.

“Shut up,” she said. “We need to know if you’ve got any void stones.”

The alchemist’s grin lessened at Ruby’s harsh tone, but didn’t disappear completely.

“Even if I did, why would I tell you, insolent brat?”

Ruby would have answered in kind, but I jabbed her on the side. She glowered at me in return, but I gave her a sign to stay quiet. Twilight nodded gratefully and took the lead in the conversation.

“I can ease your stay in Tartarus if you give us some information,” she offered to the alchemist.

He thought for a moment and then dismissed her idea with a wave of a hoof. Twilight frowned.

“There is no point in lying,” the alchemist said. “I don’t have any secret stashes. Celestia wasted all my hard work.”

“You were killing innocent creatures to get the ingredients for your foul experiments!” Twilight burst out.

“Doesn’t mean it was easy,” he countered with a smirk.

Twilight fumed and Starlight took a step forward, lighting up her horn. The keeper grabbed her when she got too close to the barrier.

“Anything that goes in, stays in,” he warned. “And this barrier is impenetrable to your magic.”

The alchemist’s grin only grew bigger as he enjoyed my friend’s helpless rage. It must have been the best entertainment he’d had in years. His arrogance was making me angry too, but I kept myself under control, so I wouldn’t give him any more pleasure.

“Is there another way to make a void stone?” I asked the alchemist instead.

He shook his head, turning serious. “Well, no. My way is the only way to do it, believe me.”

“Why doesn’t it work on the changelings?” Twilight suddenly asked.

The alchemist looked at her in confusion. “It does not?”

“Nope,” Starlight shook her head. “The changelings got one of your stones and it blocks all magic except for their own.”

“That’s impossible,” the alchemist stated, lowering his ears. “My stone is perfect; no magic of any kind is supposed to work in its presence.”

“Perhaps you’re not as smart as you think,” Ruby smirked.

The alchemist trotted around the cell in agitation. Then he stopped and looked at us.

“They must have modified my original work,” he finally said. “I didn’t know it was possible to make the stone exclude anypony from its aura.”

Twilight nodded. “I agree. My own calculations of the stone’s effects proved that it would be impossible in its original configuration. Perhaps Chrysalis has changed its formula.”

“I must see it with my own eyes. Bring me an example,” the alchemist ordered suddenly.

He got our incredulous stares as an answer. The pony smiled weakly and shrugged.

“I forgot where I was for the moment… Spending hundreds of years here can have that effect on a pony’s mind,” the alchemist complained. “I would do anything to get out… Perhaps even make you another stone if you want it so badly.”

“Out of the question,” Twilight stomped her hoof. “I will not allow you to harm any more creatures.”

“I don’t even need to kill anypony,” the alchemist assured us. “I have enough ingredients stored to make another one.”

I cringed, realizing that he must have already killed a lot of creatures to acquire those ingredients in the past. But on the other hoof, they would be wasted otherwise… Since the vile deed was done already, it would be foolish of us not to use them.

“No,” repeated Twilight.

“You don’t know how strong Tenebris is, Twilight,” I said with a frown. “I hate the idea, but we should get every advantage to defeat her.”

Twilight shook her head stubbornly, but I could see her resolve withering. She probably realized that if Tenebris matched Celestia and Luna in battle, the fight to take her down for good would be harsh. Somepony would probably die. But all of that could be avoided if we used a void stone to disable her powers.

I shared my thoughts out loud, while Starlight and Ruby remained silent. They’d faced Tenebris as well and I hoped they knew how much we needed the stone. Sometimes it was necessary to do something you didn’t like to avoid something even worse.

Twilight sighed.

“I know how useful such a stone could be,” Twilight drooped her ears. “But all those who died for him to get the ingredients…”

“Their sacrifice will have been in vain otherwise,” the alchemist put his two bits.

“Shut up,” Ruby and Starlight both snapped at him.

It was a decision we had to make ourselves.

“I accept your offer,” Twilight announced in the end. “We will get those ingredients for you and you’ll make us a void stone. In return, you will be released from Tartarus, but you will live the rest of your days under constant observation.”

“Deal,” nodded the alchemist and shared the location of the ingredients he had stored. I just hoped they’d be still intact after hundreds of years.

***

“So, did he give you the stone?” Rainbow Dash shot out the question as soon as we got outside.

“Don’t be silly, dear,” Rarity smirked. “He’s in Tartarus, he doesn’t have anything here.”

Rainbow Dash just waved her hoof. “You know what I mean.”

We all exchanged glances and nodded. Our friends deserved the truth and Twilight explained the situation, hiding nothing. Rarity became nauseous when Twilight briefly mentioned what exactly was used in the stone’s creation. The rest of the ponies also weren’t taking it too well.

“And you want to let this monster out?!” Applejack flickered her tail angrily. “He maimed unicorn foals to get their horns!”

“I don’t want him anywhere near my Sweetie Belle,” Rarity stated, frowning deeply.

It took a while to calm everypony down.

“Look, it’s not like he’d be allowed to do anything like that again…” Ruby said, but she didn’t sound like she believed in her own words.

Knowing her, I knew she would rather kill the alchemist herself, than allow him to rein free, but Tenebris was the bigger threat. We almost died facing her the last time and the memory was too fresh in our minds.

“Can’t you together with the other princesses, like, overpower her?” Rainbow asked Twilight.

Twilight sighed. “We could, but it’s too risky. Remember Tirek? It would be something similar, but right in the middle of Canterlot…”

“Oh.”

***

The way back to Canterlot took us less time than we’d spent on getting there in the first place. The main reason was Rainbow Dash, who reined herself to the chariot, along with a pegasus guardpony.

We were flying with awesome speed. Unfortunately, it triggered my fear of heights, so I spent the whole flight lying down between the other ponies. It was a tight fit with three new additions — Applejack, Pinkie and Rarity — but at the same time I felt more secure with more company.

Nopony attacked us this time. After a mere two hours of flight, we landed far enough from Canterlot Mountain to avoid any patrols. Even though the journey was uneventful, I wasn’t about to complain. Detective Seeker’s death was still fresh in my memory and I’d rather have a boring journey than lose anypony else.

Celestia’s guards were waiting for us on the other side of the secret entrance. They told the Princess about our return and she met us when we arrived at the palace itself. She cantered — something I’d never seen her do before — and crushed Twilight in a bone-breaking hug.

“Twilight, I’m glad to see you’re alright,” she said.

I’d never seen Twilight and Princess Celestia together, but now I understood why Twilight talked about the Princess as more of a second mother than just a mentor. Their relationship was much more than just a student and a teacher.

Despite the late hour, Celestia led us to a private dining room, where we were served some dinner. Princess Luna and Fluttershy joined us there, while Twilight was sharing our plans concerning the void stone. The Princess of the Night didn’t know what the stone was until Twilight explained.

“While I find the creation process revolting, if this stallion has the ingredients ready, then I don’t see why we should not use them,” Luna said.

Her sister nodded. “I agree. I would never consider procuring the ingredients myself, no matter how bad the situation gets, but making a stone out of already existing ones is something we should consider.” Celestia looked at Twilight. “However, I don’t think it is wise to let the alchemist go. His crimes are unforgivable.”

“Of course, Princess Celestia,” Twilight waved a hoof, “But I’m not talking about forgiving him. He’d be living under constant surveillance. We can even use his knowledge for our benefit!”

“This alchemist sounds like a very bad pony, Twilight,” frowned Fluttershy. “I’m not sure I’d want to be neighbors with him…”

“I agree neck and crop,” Applejack stomped her hoof at the table, making Rarity cringe. “No pony like him will be in Ponyville as long as I breathe.”

Twilight threw her hooves up, “I never said I wanted him in Ponyville myself.”

A knock on the door interrupted the conversation. Celestia frowned in annoyance, but opened it nonetheless. A pegasus mare in the Wonderbolts costume walked in; I could see Rainbow Dash ears perk up at her appearance.

“I just got back from the Crystal Empire,” the mare said. “You told me to seek you immediately if I had some important news.”

Celestia’s face showed no annoyance now; instead, it displayed a polite neutrality. She nodded regally to the Wonderbolt and waved a hoof, prompting her to continue. Before doing that, she trotted to the table and gulped down a whole carafe of water that Rainbow Dash had passed to her.

“The Crystal Empire has been thrown into disarray by the events in Equestria,” the Wonderbolt announced. “A lot of crystal ponies are protesting against Cadence’s authority, calling for independence.”

Twilight’s face fell at the news. I glanced around the table — everypony’s mood shifted for the worse at this revelation. Only Celestia and Luna still held their neutral expressions.

“How serious is it?” Celestia asked calmly.

The pegasus shrugged. “It’s not that serious yet, but there is a strong opinion that since Princess Twilight had been captured and you, Your Majesty, have lost control over your own country, there is no reason for them to serve Equestria anymore.”

“But… we saved them from Sombra! Do these crystal heads have no gratitude?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

“Should we set up a we-saved-you party to remind them?” offered Pinkie. “Or maybe another Crystal Fair!”

“Prince Shining Armor has a suspicion that it was pre-planned,” Wonderbolt shared. “There is no way it would have happened on its own so suddenly, he says.”

As my friends discussed how to handle the Crystal Empire situation, I felt myself falling out of the loop. For me, the Crystal Empire’s entire existence was a surprise; I’d only heard about it in old history books before. So I had nothing to add before I knew more.

“We need to squash those traitors,” Rainbow Dash huffed, hovering over her chair.

“Suppressing freedom never ended well back on Earth,” Marcus shook his head. I nodded in support — that was something I knew.

“I was hoping for the Crystal Empire to help us deal with Tenebris’ army,” Celestia sighed.

Luna put a supporting hoof on her shoulder and said, “I see two options now, sister. Either create a void stone to use on Tenebris, or a head-on attack with our combined forces from the palace. With Twilight and Starlight’s support, we have a good chance of being victorious against Tenebris. But the second option would leave most of Canterlot in ruins, so I would prefer the first.”

Everypony nodded one by one, showing their agreement, except for Twilight, who remained thoughtful. Pinkie Pie poked her, bringing her out of her thoughts. She looked at her friend and then turned to Celestia and Luna.

“Spike and I will go to the Crystal Empire,” she announced. “Spike is a hero there and I’m sure my personal arrival would show them that all is not lost in Equestria yet.”

“I’ll go too,” Pinkie jumped on her hooves, like she’d expected to go right away. “I’ll throw the best party I can to remind them that friends should help each other.”

Celestia nodded after some short consideration. In the following discussion, the rest of the ponies expressed their desire to join Twilight in her planned journey. Then Celestia turned to Starlight, Ruby and me.

“I have another task for you, my ponies,” she said. I already knew what she was going to say, so her next words weren’t a surprise for me. “You must go to Manehattan to acquire the ingredients for the void stone. You mentioned that the city is still under loyalist control, so it shouldn’t be too hard.”

I cringed inside when she said that. I wasn’t superstitious, but saying things like that was a direct way to just ask for some trouble. All three of us nodded at the same time, accepting the task.

“Can I go with you?” Rarity surprised me with the offer.

Everypony glanced at her in wonder and she explained with a smile, “We had quite an adventure in Manehattan the last time. It would be my pleasure to visit the city again with you three.”

“Four,” Marcus intervened.

I nodded. Of course he wanted to go. The last time I’d gone to Manehattan without him he’d been quite upset, knowing that I had almost died and he hadn’t been there to help. He had promised not to do that again.

“Tenebris’ army is getting stronger every day,” concluded Celestia, standing up on her hooves; Luna stood by her side. “As long as we contain her in Canterlot, she cannot solidify her control over Equestria as a whole. But it’s only a matter of time until she breaks into the palace. It could take weeks or even months, but there’s going to be carnage when she does.”

“It is our duty as the rulers of Equestria to protect ponykind. But even we can’t do it on our own,” continued Luna. “We are eternally grateful for your help, my ponies. May the Harmony be with you.”

Part IV - Chapter 20: The Manehattan Project

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CHAPTER 20 - The Manehattan Project

“This is goodbye, then,” Twilight said as we descended the stairs.

I nodded. Just yesterday, we had saved the mare and her friends from Tartarus, and now we had to separate again. Twilight and four of her friends – except for Rarity –were going to the Crystal Empire, while the rest of us were going to hoof it to Manehattan.

The only chariot we had was given to Twilight to assure her safe journey. The scouts’ reports warned about chaos spreading in the north, while the agents we’d met earlier assured us that the way to Manehattan should be mostly safe for travel. I deliberately ignored the mostly safe part.

It was still better than having to endure another flight…

“It won’t take long,” Rainbow Dash assured everypony, waving her hoof. “Those crystal heads won’t know what hit them.”

“I dunno about any hittin’, but we sure are gonna get to the root of this,” Applejack stated solemnly.

Rarity sighed. “I just hate to miss the chance to see the Empire again.”

I threw a side glance at her, not saying anything. I was happy to have her along, but if she wanted to join her other friends instead… I wouldn’t be upset. Well, maybe I would be just a little, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world.

“But I think that going to Manehattan is more important,” Rarity added, putting my mind at ease.

We continued our steady descent until we reached the cave’s floor. The chariot with the pegasi guards was waiting there already. I nodded to the familiar ponies, noticing Sturdy mingling among them. He smiled and waved in return.

Celestia had been told about the changeling, of course. The reason why he hadn’t been put in a cell for being a spy was Fluttershy and me. Together, we convinced the Princess that Sturdy meant well and the others, though reluctantly, confirmed that he’d never been anything but helpful.

“We’re leaving,” Twilight said to them like it wasn’t obvious anyway.

As the guards pulled the chariot outside, we faced each other one more time. After the final group hug, Twilight and the rest climbed into the chariot and it took off. I searched the sky for any signs of the enemy, but saw none. Although I doubted we were in a position to help, even if I had noticed something.

“Well, we should go too,” Starlight distracted me from my heavy thoughts. “It’s almost a week’s journey on hoof, you know.”

She threw a wistful glance at the chariot, which was barely distinguishable in the distance, and sighed. I stepped from one hoof to another — a week didn’t sound all that appealing to me either and, if it was really important, I could handle one more flight, but the decision had already been made.

Rarity groaned at the reminder.

“Well, at least I’m bringing along the bare necessities I need for the journey,” she said more cheerfully, flipping two big saddlebags on her back.

Starlight rolled her eyes behind her — she carried even larger ones and I knew for a fact that they were filled with supplies. Ruby and I helped to pack them for each member of the group, except for Rarity. She packed her own. As for their content…Well, for all her good qualities, Rarity just wasn’t a traveler pony.

Five minutes into our journey and the first problem had already arisen, although not with Rarity. My human friend just couldn’t keep up with our pace. We were going at a quick trot — a pony could keep it up for hours.

Marcus couldn’t do the same.

He jogged along at first, but soon it became painfully obvious that Marcus wouldn’t keep up with the rest for long. Even his larger size didn’t offer him an advantage. Soon, the whole group had to slow down because of him. The old saying about a group being only as fast as its slowest member was proven true once more.

“Sorry, guys,” Marcus said, panting. “I’m doing my best.”

I recognized the guilt in his voice. My friend just wanted to help, but I guess it just wasn’t going to happen... We weren’t far from the cave yet. The best way was for him to go back right now, but I just couldn’t bring myself to say it out loud. I was hoping he’d come to the same conclusion himself.

“Too bad I’m too small to carry you like I did with Spike,” I said instead.

Marcus chuckled. “Yeah, though it would be weird to ride you like a real horse.”

I heard Rarity giggle behind me, but I pretended I hadn’t noticed that.

“I can carry you if you’d like,” Sturdy suddenly offered.

Marcus and I glanced at him in confusion, but I understood what he meant the next moment. In a flash of green light, Sturdy’s pegasus form changed into a larger version of himself, although without wings. He flashed a triumphant smile.

“How would it work?” Starlight asked, examining the changeling, “Even though you’ve gotten bigger, you shouldn’t have become stronger than you were. That’s how enlargement spells are supposed to work.”

“Changeling magic is different,” Sturdy said. “I can be however strong I want, but it requires me to spend more magic to hold the form. Thankfully, I was trained to be an infiltrator, so I can hold it for quite a long time.”

“Amazing,” Starlight shook her head. “Twilight would be thrilled to learn that.”

The others were watching the changeling with curiosity, although I noticed Rarity kept herself behind Ruby. Marcus examined Sturdy’s new form skeptically.

“I guess that could work…” he pondered, scratching his chin.

“Of course it could. Hop on!” Sturdy prompted him and lowered his knees.

He was the size of a human-world horse now, so Marcus struggled to climb onto his back. Sturdy didn’t seem to notice his weight. He went on a quick trot easily; it was our turn to keep up with his long legs.

At least we were making some good progress now.

Of course, if a stranger were to see us, they would probably think they’d gone crazy. Our group would be quite memorable, even with just Marcus alone, and with the giant pony Sturdy had now become… Nopony would forget us.

That was the reason why we avoided going through the village on our way, cutting instead through some open pastures until it was behind us. The less attention we got so close to Canterlot, the smaller the chance that Tenebris would send somepony after us. The rest of the day we spent on the move, stopping only for short breaks. So far, we had met almost no other travelers and I didn’t know what I thought about that.

“Well, I guess ponies prefer to be home at a time like this,” Ruby shrugged when I asked her.

The sun was already setting, so we had to consider a place to stay for the night. Ruby wanted us to set up camp near the road, but Rarity took one look at the grass and shuddered from the inside.

“I’m sure we would find an inn or something if we’d go further a bit,” she said, frowning at Ruby, who was already taking off her saddlebags.

“We’re not supposed to attract attention,” Ruby answered.

“I think we’ve gotten far enough from Canterlot for that,” Rarity waved her hoof. “Please, imagine how much better it would be to sleep on a real bed, rather than here.”

Some doubt flickered on Ruby’s face. She looked at the others for support, but we all liked Rarity’s arguments — nopony wanted to sleep outside if it could be avoided. In the end, Ruby sighed and put the saddlebags on her back again.

Thankfully, the next village was close. We stopped in the distance as soon as we saw the first lights. Marcus jumped off Sturdy, but stumbled and almost smashed himself on the ground. He groaned and rubbed his backside.

“Ohh… There is no way I’m gonna ride you without a saddle,” Marcus told to his steed.

“What?!”

“My legs are hurt all over,” he explained.

The changeling turned back into his pegasus form and stretched his wings with a crunch.

“Well, you’re not a featherweight either,” he retorted.

“Suck it up, you both,” Starlight interrupted. “It’s important we get to Manehattan as fast as possible.”

Marcus and Sturdy exchanged careful glances; none of them looked enthusiastic at the prospect.

“I don’t want to make you wait for me,” Marcus frowned. “I can run for a long time if I have to, you know.”

“You’ll get tired,” I said, knowing perfectly well the human’s limitations.

“I have an idea, dearies,” Rarity singsonged. I looked at her, annoyed. “Perhaps we can find a carriage for hire in this lovely village.”

I almost hit myself realizing that she was right. Why hadn’t anypony thought about it sooner? We continued to the village in elevated spirits.

When we got into the village itself, we had to spend some time looking for an inn. The street was badly illuminated at night; the lit windows from nearby houses was our only source of light – save for our glowing horns. Eventually, we found the right building.

As soon as we trotted in, all conversation there died and the ponies switched their attention to the new arrivals. Marcus in particular was the one who had caught their interest. He waved at them with a forced smile and they turned away, pretending to carry on, but I saw that some of them continued to watch us from the corner of their eyes.

Ignoring the stares, Rarity casually approached the bartender.

“How many rooms do you have available?”

***

“It would have been better if we’d set up camp like I wanted,” Ruby mumbled, chewing the freshly made salad filled up with a lot of mayonnaise.

After Rarity paid for three rooms, we decided to order some dinner. Our group took a whole table for themselves, but we couldn’t enjoy our meals in peace and quiet as we had hoped. Everypony who was in the tavern approached our table one by one, curious to learn more about Marcus.

At least, that was at first. Soon, the topic switched to the situation in the country.

All they knew was based on some wild rumors. Not that reality was any better, of course. As the newcomers, we were the source of fresh information for them. Thankfully, Rarity took it onto herself to entertain the listeners, while the rest of us were eating. She was clearly enjoying the attention.

When I finished my food, I looked around the place, admiring how nice it looked. Even though it wasn’t luxurious, the place gave off a warm, safe feeling. It was slightly ruined, however, when I saw a unicorn sitting in the corner. He had a big cup in front of him and was staring right at me. The pony turned his glance away when our eyes met.

“Who’s that guy?” I asked one of the ponies talking with Rarity.

“That’s Minty Fresh,” he answered. I raised my eyebrow because the name told me absolutely nothing, so the pony elaborated, “He’s a nice fellow. Used to live here, but left a couple of years back. He came back yesterday from Canterlot and has been spending most of his time here, drinking.”

I thanked the pony and considered his words. I knew that Tenebris had banned anypony from leaving Canterlot and if this pony had done so anyway, he had either found a way to escape unnoticed or… Was here doing something for her. I needed to know which.

I apologized and left our table. My friends looked at me in confusion as I approached the unicorn who’d gotten my attention. I knew he was aware of me approaching, but he was ignoring me, sipping from his cup. He glared at me when I stopped before his table.

“What?” Minty asked curtly.

“Hello, my name’s Sundae,” I introduced myself.

“I know,” he said and, after a pause, added, “I mean, I do now.”

I noticed the slip and I didn’t like it. It’s never good when a stranger knows your name. I sat down on the free chair close to him, ignoring his annoyed glare. My body was tense in case the unicorn became hostile towards me; I hoped I was wrong in suspecting him.

“I heard you’ve left Canterlot recently. How did you do that?” I asked flat out.

Minty squirmed in his chair and looked around. Levitating a cup, he gulped down what was left of it and put it back on the table. Then he shrugged. I observed his reaction carefully — he was clearly avoiding the question. My suspicion increased.

“Well, if you don’t want to say—”

“You’re right, I don’t,” Minty interrupted. “It’s none of your business.”

I flinched, taken aback at the sudden anger in his voice. I realized that there was no point in asking anything else. His reaction at my simple question was pretty telling — he was working for the enemy and obviously knew who I was. I had no doubt he would inform Tenebris of our presence in the village. Upon returning to my own table, I quietly explained to my curious friends what I’d deduced.

“That bastard!” Ruby exclaimed loudly enough to get the attention of the whole room.

Minty obviously heard it as well. He put away the cup and walked towards the exit with an unsteady gait. Ruby followed him with narrowed eyes, an angry frown on her face. When the pony finally left, she switched her attention back to me.

“We need to stop him,” Ruby said in a low voice.

“Do we really need to bother?” Rarity asked. “I mean, it would take him a day to get to Canterlot. By that time, we would be far away.”

“It’s out of question,” Starlight stated, moving her hoof in a slashing motion. “They’d be looking for us on the road. I don’t want anypony else to die in a stupid fight. This pony needs to be stopped.”

Sturdy looked from one face to another with a concerned expression.

“I’m not sure he’s Tenebris’ spy” Sturdy said, picking his words carefully. “I mean, it’s just some small village. What would a spy be doing here?”

The changeling’s words put some doubt in my mind. Now that I thought about it, I saw no reason for a spy to be interested in this place. No offense to the locals, but this small village had no value for somepony like Tenebris. Perhaps there was another, more innocent explanation for my suspicions that I hadn’t yet discovered.

I chided myself for jumping to conclusions so quickly. As the saying went: facts should suit theories, not theories — facts.

“I have a theory, darling,” Rarity said. “Tenebris has spent thousands of years in Tartarus. It’s reasonable that she’s sending ponies to villages around the country to be her eyes and ears.”

Rarity’s theory sounded pretty reasonable. I sighed, being torn between hers and Sturdy’s. I felt like the only way to be sure was to talk with Minty again. I shared my intentions with the rest.

“I don’t want to listen to his lies,” Starlight shook her head. “No, we should strike at him right now.”

I winced, instantly recognizing her intentions. She wanted to kill the pony. I didn’t like that my friend was becoming more and more prone to resorting to such drastic measures. Suggesting killing the pony without even offering him a chance to explain himself…

“We should talk to him first,” I repeated.

Ruby sighed, shaking her head. “You already have, Sunny. Let’s find him before he gets away.”

With no further ado, Ruby put a plate with a half-eaten meal aside and made for the exit. The others followed her and, though reluctantly, I did too. I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were making a big mistake, but my friends just weren’t listening to me!

Once we got out on the street, it became clear that finding the pony wouldn’t be an easy task.

Darkness covered the main street. The moon was hidden behind clouds; an elephant could walk right past us and nopony would notice until we stumbled right into it. Starlight lit up her horn, brightly illuminating the surroundings. We looked around, but nopony was in sight.

“We need to know where he’s staying,” said Rarity. “He won’t leave emptyhoofed, so we can intercept him there. Wait here, I’ll ask—”

“No,” Starlight stopped her as she was about to enter the tavern. “Let’s not make it more complicated than it is. I don’t want a bunch of villagers holding me back.”

“Why would they?” Ruby asked. “He serves Tenebris. They’ll understand.”

“I’m not sure they quite know who she is yet,” I countered.

Rarity looked between both of my friends, confused. “Wait, what exactly are you planning to do?”

“What do you think?” Ruby asked grimly, half-drawing her blade.

Rarity opened her mouth in a sudden realization. I guess having missed all the action in Tartarus, Rarity wasn’t ready to face the harsh realities my friends had come to accept. However, I was with Rarity on this one. It was one thing to kill somepony in battle when your life depended on it, but to just do it in cold blood based on a mere suspicion…

For all I knew, we could be plotting the death of a completely innocent pony. Anger rose inside of me, giving me some new strength.

“We will talk with him first,” I repeated firmly. Ruby opened her mouth to argue, but I raised my hoof, stopping her. “That’s final. We have to be sure.”

Ruby just shrugged, seeming to be accepting my order.

It was easier to find the pony than I’d assumed. I knew that everypony left a trace of their aura wherever they went, but what I didn’t know was that you could use it to follow said pony if you knew the right spell. The trace of this pony’s aura was degrading quickly, since Equestria was brimming with magic, but there was enough left for Starlight to follow where it led.

Soon, we were standing before a house. The house looked no different from its neighboring ones — a typical pony dwelling. Some light was spilling from its windows. It must have been Minty’s old house before he’d left the village in the first place. It made sense that he’d still be living there... But it looked well-cared for, so it couldn’t have been abandoned for all that time.

I approached the door first and was about to knock, when Starlight’s magic blew the door off its hinges with a loud crack. I jumped back in shock, staring at her incredulously. I thought we’d agreed to talk to him first?! The others were confused as well, but followed her as she trotted into the gaping door frame.

Rarity and I exchanged a worried glance before hurrying after them. I hoped Starlight hadn’t done something irreversible. As I learned a moment later, she hadn’t, but she was pretty damn close. The scene unfolding before my eyes was quite dramatic.

Minty was standing in the middle of the room, his hooves set wide, while holding a sword with his magic. His face was a mixture of fear and rage. An old mare was standing between him and Starlight, screaming something furiously.

“…dare you break into my house?” I caught the ending of her tirade before Starlight muted her with a spell.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Minty yelled, pushing the old mare to the side and standing before Starlight himself.

“You’re Tenebris’ spy!” Starlight poked an accusing hoof at him.

“Well, I admit, I used to serve her for a short time,” Minty said, swaying his sword, “But I never wanted to!”

“Liar,” Starlight growled.

I saw red sparks in her usually green magic aura and frowned. It couldn’t be good. I trotted close to her and put a hoof on her back in an attempt to calm her, but I might just as well have touched an exposed wire instead. A vicious force stung my hoof and I was thrown back on my haunches. Starlight glanced at me in surprise, as Ruby and Marcus both rushed to me.

“Are you okay?” both asked at the same time.

I looked between my smoking hoof and Starlight with wide eyes. My heart was beating like crazy and my whole body was shaking from the aftereffects. What the hell had just happened?

Having seen that I was mostly fine, Starlight snapped her attention back to Minty, who had used the distraction to try to escape along with the old mare. He didn’t get far, however. Starlight levitated both of them into the air. She gently put the mare aside, but Minty received much harsher treatment.

He was brought before Starlight’s eyes, immobilized in her magical field. The unicorn gaped at her silently, unable to move a limb. Once again, I saw her magic begin to change its color to red. This time I knew what the consequences would be, so I just stood in front of Starlight without touching her; Rarity joined by my side a moment later, giving the mare a stern glance.

“I thought we were going to talk to this pony first,” I scorned her.

“I don’t want to hear it!” Starlight screamed at me, stomping her hoof. I took an involuntary step back, bumping my backside into the hovering unicorn.

“Go away!” the old mare screamed. She would have gone after Starlight, but she was immobilized just like Minty.

“I swear, I don’t work for Tenebris anymore,” said the stallion behind me. He talked with a struggle, like it was causing him pain.

Likely, it really was.

“My son has deserted Tenebris, you fools!” the old mare screamed from her place.

Starlight face was impassive. She just stared right through me and didn’t even blink. With dread, I noticed her eyes turning into two slits. An instinctive fear made me shudder from my ears to the tip of my tail — such predatory eyes weren’t natural on a pony.

“I think you’re going too far, dear,” Rarity said, I could hear her voice shaking.

I nodded to express my support.

“He’s going to get somepony killed, how could you not see it?!” exclaimed Starlight, shaking the pony in question in her grip.

“We don’t know that,” I said firmly. “We shouldn’t jump to conc—”

“Enough,” Starlight waved a hoof. “Step away, you two.”

Without waiting for an answer, she rather rudely shoved us aside with her magic. I yelped in protest, but she ignored me — her attention was at the pony who she thought served Tenebris. But I felt like she was making a huge mistake. I could feel it with every fiber of my being.

There was no way I’d allow Starlight to kill an innocent. I knew she’d never forgive herself….

I teleported out of Starlight’ grip and appeared right in front of her. Unfortunately, it was exactly at this moment that she unleashed her spell, intended to end the accused pony’s life. It hit me instead, and I shook from the waves of destructive magic passing through my body. My jaw clenched and I couldn’t even scream, despite feeling excruciating pain.

The last thing I remembered was the feeling of my bladder relieving itself.

***

I slowly came back to consciousness, experiencing a horrible ache throughout my body. I groaned and tried to move my limbs, but a pang in my muscles ceased any further attempts. Instead, I relaxed them as much as I could and turned my ear toward a voice.

“My God, Starlight, what the hell?” Marcus asked.

Forcing my eyes open, I saw Starlight’s horrified eyes — normal pony-looking eyes — staring at me. The mare blinked and flattened her ears against her head. I heard fast hoofsteps from the side and Ruby’s face appeared in front of my field of vision. My marefriend looked scared.

“Sunny, are you okay?”

I rolled my eyes. I didn’t feel okay and probably didn’t look like it either. What was worse – I smelled a strong stench of urine, likely coming from me. How embarrassing… I opened my mouth to say something, but my tongue felt too heavy.

“What were you thinking?” Ruby asked in rage, turning to face Starlight.

“I… I wasn’t aiming at her…” Starlight muttered, backing up from the furious mare.

“You shouldn’t have been using such magic at all!” Ruby stomped her hoof. I winced from a loud noise assaulting my sensitive ear. “Sunny wanted to talk first!”

“I just… I felt so angry,” Starlight hung her head low under Ruby’s withering stare.

At some point, I fell unconscious again.

***

I jerked up and flung my eyes open. I blinked them a couple of times to see more clearly. A ceiling was above me. I was obviously lying on something, but I couldn’t feel on what. In fact, I was feeling nothing at all, not even pain. I tried to move, but no limb responded to my mental command.

A fear started to arise inside of me. Had I been hurt more than I’d realized?

I took a deep breath to quell the rising panic. At least, I could still breathe — that was something positive already. And I could move my eyes to look around. The room I was in was sunlit from an open window. But more importantly, Ruby was here as well.

She was sitting beside my bed. Noticing my activities, the mare leaned upon me to meet my eyes.

“Sunny, blink if you can hear me.”

I did as she asked and was rewarded by her smile of relief. “Starlight numbed the nerves in your body, so you wouldn’t feel any pain while you were sleeping. It’ll pass soon now that you’re awake.”

Having said that, she hugged me, though I didn’t feel a thing from our body contact. My head was dangling at her shoulder. I couldn’t express it, but I felt an immense relief learning that my condition was temporary. I think I could already feel a light tingling at the end of my hooves.

As my mind was taken off the immediate worry, some new issues took its place. Judging by the fact that it was day outside, I must have been unconscious for at least a full night. And the room I was in looked like it belonged to a house, not the inn we had chosen to stay in. More questions were on my mind, but I had to wait before I could ask them.

Ten minutes later the tingling I was feeling had become much more acute. It enveloped my whole body; it was like being pricked by tiny spears, wielded by a horde of angry lilliputs. Imagining such a thing made me chuckle. I realized that I had done it out loud — I could move again! I lifted my hoof, but immediately dropped it again, cringing from a sharp pain.

I tried to say something, but all I could manage was a groan and a coughing fit.

“You should rest some more,” she said, watching me in concern.

I shook my head stubbornly. Every second I wasted here was a second that Tenebris was spending on getting stronger.

“H-how…long have I been out?” I forced out the question I wanted to ask.

“Just a day,” Ruby shrugged like it was nothing.

I winced upon hearing this. The whole day had been wasted because of… I suddenly remembered why.

“What happened after I was hit?”

Ruby answered my question in detail.

After what she’d done, Starlight had been devastated. Everypony had been afraid that I would die, even though Starlight claimed she had canceled the spell before it could gain its full strength. The old mare, Minty’s mother as it turned out, had offered her guest room for me while her son had gone to fetch a local doctor. Sturdy had followed him just in case he’d try to escape, but the pony hadn’t.

“So while we were taking care of you, we had a long talk with Minty and his mother,” Ruby continued. “Even Starlight believes they’re telling the truth.”

I nodded, noticing the way Ruby was saying Starlight’s name. Despite of what had happened to me, I didn’t regret putting myself in harm’s way. An innocent pony had been saved — as well as Starlight’s soul. If she’d killed him in rage and would only then have found out the truth… I don’t think she would ever forgive herself.

On the other hoof, she must be blaming herself right now for almost killing me.

“I want to talk with Starlight.”

“Well, Starlight is staying in the tavern along with the others,” Ruby said, furrowing her brow. “The old mare only allowed me to stay here. I told her we’re marefriends.”

She leaned down for a kiss to prove her words, not that I needed any confirmation. I closed my eyes and just enjoyed the kiss while it lasted. I noticed that a pony had a much longer tongue than a human, which led to some pleasant experiences… After the kiss ended, Ruby went to tell the others the good news.

While she was away, I got some time to reflect on what in Tartarus had happened. I noticed Starlight had been getting kind of harsh on our enemies, but now she had taken it to an entirely new level. Though it had been reasonable to assume the pony was working for Tenebris — and he had done so in the past — it didn’t mean he should be killed off with no chance to explain himself.

Everypony makes mistakes and what mattered here was that he had realized his mistake and quit working for her. Starlight’s own past should be proof enough of that. Maybe this pony deserved to be punished in some way when everything was over, but it wouldn’t be by death for sure.

The door opened, interrupting my thoughts, and a whole bunch of ponies trotted into my room. My friends surrounded my bed and looked at me so intensely that I began to feel very self-conscious. I forced a tiny smile.

“Sup.”

“Sunny, I’m sorry for what I did to you…” Starlight said, looking anywhere but my eyes. “If you want to hate me now, I understand.”

I waved my hoof weakly. “I don’t hate you. It was kind of my fault anyway.”

“No, it was mine,” retorted Starlight. “I was just so angry! I was so sure he was going to rat us out to Tenebris and somepony else would die. Like Detective Seeker…”

“Well, hopefully next time you’ll think before throwing your deadly spells around…” Rarity mumbled. Starlight nodded solemnly.

Even though I had almost died because of Starlight, I knew it had been an accident and I didn’t hold a grudge. I told her exactly that. However, Ruby was another thing. I noticed the menacing glances she was throwing Starlight’s way, and the anger in her voice when she had mentioned the mare’s name. I was afraid that Ruby wouldn’t be as forgiving as me.

I decided to talk with her later.

For the moment, I was more worried about our mission. Obviously, this accident had put our journey to Manehattan under a serious threat. As of now, I couldn’t even stand, let alone walk or trot. We had already lost a day while I’d been unconscious, and we’d lose a lot more if my friends were going to wait for me to recover.

“I think you should continue without me,” I sighed.

My friends exchanged glances, but no one raised an objection. I guess they had already discussed it while I’d been unconscious, and had come to the same conclusion. I still felt like crying though. It wasn’t just because I wouldn’t be able to continue the mission, but I also wouldn’t see my parents.

After I had reclaimed my memories, I still hadn’t found the time to visit them and now… There was no telling when I’d get another chance to go to Manehattan.

“I’ll carry you back to Canterlot,” Ruby offered. I nodded, resigned.

“That’s a bad idea,” Starlight said, flinching at a stare Ruby gave her. “I mean, the enemy knows our faces. They’re looking for us. If some random patrol finds you near Canterlot, you two won’t be able to deal with them.”

“I’ll go with them,” said Marcus, gripping the handle of his sword.

“No, Starlight is right,” Ruby said, throwing a side glance at the mare. “It’s too risky for us to separate.”

Rarity’s delicate cough brought our attention to her. She flashed a smile and said, “Hadn’t we planned to find a carriage in this village? Sunny and Marcus can both ride in it, while we all pull it together.”

I quickly considered her idea and, finding no immediate drawbacks, grinned. It seemed like a great idea! It would give me the time to recover without delaying our mission at the same time. According to Ruby’s earlier explanation, Starlight’s spell had done no permanent damage and its consequences should disappear without a trace in time.

How much time though depended on the pony, i.e. me.

The rest liked Rarity’s idea too. Without wasting any more time, everypony but Ruby and Marcus left to find a carriage, assuming there was one available in the village. While we waited, I made some small talk with my remaining friends. Soon, however, I realized that it was a good time to tackle the issue I’d noticed earlier.

“Don’t blame Starlight, please,” I said, trying to put a steel edge in my voice. Unfortunately, a coughing fit ruined my attempt. I forced a smile on my face and, ignoring Ruby’s frown, continued. “What happened was a tragic mistake.”

Ruby lowered her eyes. She was silent for a while and then finally replied, “I know she didn’t want to hurt you. But… I almost lost you anyway! How could I just forgive her?”

I shook my head. “If I hadn’t teleported right in front of her spell, it wouldn’t have happened. Why don’t you blame me?”

“Yeah, about that — you should be more careful, Sunny,” Marcus said, touching my shoulder. “It was a dumb idea to jump in front of a deadly spell. You’re not Harry Potter, for God’s sake!”

I chuckled, but I knew he was right. It had been dumb of me. But it wasn’t like I had been expecting it to happen. Who knew that the spell would have been released the moment I had teleported in its way?

“Everypony is to blame here,” I said in the end. “If I hadn’t gotten suspicious and talked with Minty in the first place, this whole mess could have been avoided.”

***

Starlight returned alone a few hours later. Ruby tensed up as she walked in, but I gave her a stern look and she forced herself to relax. I’d managed to convince Ruby to make peace with Starlight, but she wasn’t enthusiastic. I knew she was doing it only for me, but I had no doubt that in due time she would fully accept it. I raised an eyebrow, reminding her of what she’d promised to do, and the mare sighed.

“Starlight?” Ruby addressed her.

Starlight looked at her with a worried expression, her tail twitching slightly. She’d probably expected Ruby to say something nasty, having seen her attitude before, but the mare remained silent. I cleared my throat to show my impatience.

“Starlight, I want to say that I’m not mad at you for what happened,” she finally said.

Starlight raised her eyebrows. “Really?”

“Yeah, you’re just on edge. We all are,” she continued. “And as Sunny said, holding grudges would only make matters worse. We’re friends… even though what you did was pretty rotten.”

The unicorn chuckled humorlessly. “Yeah, I agree.” Starlight shuddered. “For a moment there, I thought that I had actually killed Sundae. I’ll never forget that feeling…”

I struggled out of my bed, cringing in pain when my legs were forced to hold my body weight. Marcus stood by closely, making sure I wouldn’t fall and hurt myself even more. But I managed to keep my footing despite the pain, giving Starlight a hug.

“Just don’t blame yourself,” I said quietly.

She mumbled something I took as a sign of agreement. The hug ended and I fell on my haunches, hissing in pain. My muscles hurt if I put some strain on them, but were fine when I kept them relaxed.

“Well, we’ve found a cart, by the way,” Starlight said, looking at me helplessly. “We want to move out right away. Rarity has also hired some ponies to pull it, so we all can rest at night while catching up with the time we’ve lost.”

I nodded. Then I made an attempt to stand again, but my hindlegs hurt too badly and I couldn’t hold back a groan. Starlight’s expression sunk even more as she watched me struggle.

“I’ve got it,” Starlight said and I suddenly felt weightless.

I gasped, thinking that something bad had happened to my senses, but then I realized that Starlight was levitating me above the floor. I looked at her and she smiled sheepishly.

“I hope you don’t mind?” Starlight asked. I answered with a shrug.

Keeping me in the air, she carried me out of the room. An old mare was waiting in the next one. The way she looked, I realized that she was happy to finally be rid of us. I tried not to feel upset — we had broken into her house and attempted to kill her son after all. Any hard feelings towards our company were totally justified.

“Thank you for your help,” I said anyway.

“Think nothing of it, filly,” she waved her hoof dismissively. “It’s everypony’s duty to help those in need.”

We passed through the damaged door that Starlight had blown up and got onto the street. The cart was waiting on the road by the house. It looked pretty shabby. It wasn’t the carriage Rarity had promised, but I guess we didn’t have much of a choice. Two strong-looking stallions were harnessed into it, ready to go. The rest of my friends were waiting close-by, while chatting with Minty.

They all turned to stare at me as one. I blushed, realizing how silly I must look right now — an adult mare being carried around like some foal with her limbs swaying uselessly. I endured their pitiful looks until I was put on the cart. Thankfully, there was hay on its floor, so at least it was soft.

“Thanks for saving my life, Sundae,” Minty said, putting his forelegs on the cart wall. “I’m sorry if I was rude to you in the tavern. I was drunk and kind of afraid of you.”

I raised my eyebrows, looking at him in surprise. He chuckled before explaining further.

“I mean, I was one of the guards in the manor when you had your showdown with Tenebris,” he said. “I guess I was afraid that you’d recognize me and go for revenge or something… Which is basically what happened anyway.”

My ears dropped when I heard an accusing note in his voice. But then I gave him a firm look.

“I’m sorry for what happened, but your pals have tried to kill us before. Our friend has just died by their hooves, just so you know.”

Minty looked away in shame. “Yes, I was told. But you should know that I’ve never killed anypony. I used to be a burglar in Canterlot, working for some small band. Sure, our boss made us train in some old armor quite a lot, but I had no idea what he was preparing us for. Then one fine morning he orders us to suit up and attack the Royal Armory. Turns out our band was much bigger than I’d thought. Had I known that our plans involved a coup, I wouldn’t have joined in the first place, I swear.”

“I see,” I nodded curtly. “You were still a criminal though, but I’ll make sure to put in a good word for you to Celestia, as long as you promise to change your life.”

“I will, I promise,” the pony said. “That’s why I escaped. Tell you what, though, a lot of ponies who were with me have no desire to fight for Tenebris. My fellow soldiers even helped me to escape. All I ask of you is to give them a chance to surrender.”

“Of course,” I said. “Unless there is no other way.”

“Fair enough.”

After that, he stepped back and my friends, who were standing further away to give us some privacy, climbed into a cart. The six of us laid down next to each other and the cart began to move, pulled by the two hired stallions. The constant shaking of the cart and soft voices of my friends talking with each other made me feel drowsy, so I succumbed to sleep soon after.

***

The first few days into the journey I was mostly sleeping. We were moving without stopping for breaks: whenever the stallions got tired, Ruby and Sturdy took their places to pull the cart while they rested on it. At this speed, we would be in Manehattan earlier than anticipated, even taking our delay into account.

On the third day of traveling, I finally decided that I wouldn’t recover if I spent all my time doing nothing.

“How are you feeling?” Starlight asked.

She walked beside me just in case I collapsed.

“Much better,” I answered honestly. I could see some relief washing over her face.

I took a full chest of air and then exhaled. It was a refreshing summer morning. The sky was clear and the sun had only begun to warm up the land. I briefly wondered if some pegasi were still watching over the weather with everything happening in the country. I hoped they were — otherwise we’d face some serious problems after this was over.

Speaking of pegasi, I noticed a silhouette of one in the sky. It was rapidly approaching. I squinted my eyes, but the pony was still too far to see in detail. However, I had a pretty good guess of who it was. A few minutes afterwards, Sturdy landed in front of the cart, breathing heavily, and I nodded to him in greeting.

I began to worry a little. Being so close to Manehattan, we decided that it was necessary for somepony to scout ahead, in case there were some troubles on our way. If he had returned this soon—

“Good news, everypony,” Sturdy announced, interrupting my thoughts. “We’re closer to Manehattan than we thought. I think we’ll be there before the evening.”

Happy yays and whoops were his answer. Just like me, everypony was tired of being inactive. I had a disturbing feeling that Tenebris was growing stronger, while we were here slacking off. Of course, I knew that we were doing the best we could, but I couldn’t shake off the feeling.

The changeling was right — we started seeing Manehattan’s skyscrapers on the horizon soon after his return. The familiar buildings reminded me of my childhood in the city. So many new — or, more correctly, old — memories were connected to them now… Not all of them were good as I had discovered, but I smiled thinking of seeing my parents again.

Unfortunately, we had to continue our journey on hoof as we got to the city adjacent to it. The stallions didn’t want to go any further, so after getting their payment they left, along with their cart. Without it, our advance was slowed down considerably. I couldn’t help but blame myself, even though I knew it wasn’t my fault that I’d been hurt.

Being so close to the city, there was plenty of pony traffic on the road. They weren’t the crowds I had been expecting to see here, but it was much more than we had seen on our way here. They were going around our group, as we crawled towards the bridge that connected Manehattan to the mainland.

We saw a blockade on the bridge from afar.

Even though we’d heard that the city remained under Celestia’s control, we didn’t rush to meet them. What if the situation had changed since we’d met Agent Clipper’s representatives? We had to be careful. From what we could see, it was clear that no pony was wearing the telling black armor associated with our enemy, but since we’d burned down their stash in the city, it couldn’t be a definitive sign.

“So, what do you think?” Ruby asked, nodding at the obstacle up ahead. “Are those our friends?”

I shrugged and shared my doubts with the rest.

“You’re right, we can’t know,” Starlight said and then chuckled grimly. “I promise not to blow them up before we find out for sure, though.”

Ruby frowned, but didn’t comment, being warned by my meaningful stare. I was relieved — I knew if Ruby made some angry jab, nothing good would come out of it. There was no need for my friends to fight in the face of a potential enemy. Nor at any other place, for that matter.

Despite Ruby’s earlier words, I knew that her relationship with Starlight was still shaky. They remained civil to each other, at least in my presence, but I could feel some tension between the mares. I hoped they’d resolve it eventually, but there was nothing more I could do to expedite the process.

“Well, what’s the problem?” Marcus shrugged. “Let’s just ask somepony.”

Rarity took his words as a call to action and approached a stallion coming from the city. We waited here while she talked to him, and soon she returned. By her smile, I could guess she had some good news for us.

“Manehattan is free from Tenebris.”

In elevated spirits, we boldly approached the barricades on the bridge. There was a line of ponies they’d let into the city, but it was moving pretty fast. They just exchanged a few words with each other, and then let them in with no further trouble. Soon, it was our turn to stand before them.

“Halt, citizens,” the lead pony warned us, glancing at Marcus. “State your business.”

“We’re visiting our friends in the city,” Starlight lied. I was surprised she didn’t just reveal the truth, but I guess it wasn’t wise to blab out our task to everypony we saw. Even our allies.

“I see,” the pony nodded and looked at Marcus. “And where are you from?”

“He’s from a faraway country,” Starlight answered before Marcus could open his mouth. “He doesn’t speak our language, but considering what’s happening in this country, he wants to return to his homeland.”

“I thought you were visiting your friends,” the guard said, narrowing his eyes.

“Well, we are going to do that, after we help him,” Starlight explained.

“Who are those friends? I need a name and address, please,” the pony asked, preparing to write something in his notebook.

Starlight shifted from hoof to hoof, stuck in her own lie.

Thankfully, Rarity came to the rescue. She stepped forward, her mane flowing in the wind. I openly admired it — she had found the time to keep it in pristine condition, even while we’d been traveling. Rarity named the stunned guards an address and named Coco Pommel as the friend we wanted to visit.

The guardspony gulped, scribing something in his notebook and then gave a sharp nod, gesturing behind him.

“Enjoy the city,” he said with a grin. “Sorry for all this. As you know, there was some fighting in the city. We have to check who’s going in and out.”

“No problem, darling.”

We hurried between the barricades as there was a small line of ponies waiting behind us. We passed another barricade on the opposite side of the bridge — I saw a lot more ponies leaving the city than going in. The guards here were letting anypony pass with no questions. Only those wearing clothes were stopped and checked, I guess in case they were carrying some concealed weapon. Those ponies were searched and, usually, allowed to pass as well.

“Why didn’t you just tell those guys the truth?” Ruby asked Starlight accusingly.

Rarity interposed herself between the two and answered herself, “It would only cause us trouble, darling. Imagine if someone told you they were looking for some old ingredients to give to a dangerous criminal locked in Tartarus, so he’d make you a magical stone you would use against Tenebris, who’s currently taking over Equestria?”

“Yeah, when you put it like that, I would think that pony was insane…”

“Exactly,” chuckled Rarity.

At first glance, Manehattan seemed as active as ever, but if I looked closer, I could see some signs of trouble. A lot of ponies were wearing a gloomy expression, and though that was to be expected from a typical Manehattanite, it wasn’t to that extent.

Rarity took the lead, trotting with a steady pace through the crowds. After some time, I began to pant, as her speed was too much for me. I tried to keep up, even though my muscles were hurting from such a strain, but was falling behind further and further.

“Everypony, stop,” Marcus said, finally noticing my struggle. “Sunny can’t keep up.”

My friends looked at me, ashamed. Ruby hastened towards me and gave me a sudden, but nonetheless pleasant, hug. For a moment, I was lost in the delicious smell of her fluffy green mane.

“Oh, Sunny, sorry,” she chattered. “I got too caught up in my own thoughts. We need to find a cab, everypony!” she announced to the others.

I nodded gratefully, sitting on my haunches. Everypony looked around in the hopes of finding a cab. With a sudden shriek, Rarity dashed forward and jumped into an open carriage before a slower competitor. She forced an apologetic smile to the unfortunate mare and said something I didn’t hear.

The mare turned curtly and left as we approached the cab Rarity had gotten us. The cab driver gave Marcus a short glance, but didn’t say anything when we all climbed inside. As we settled, however, the driver warned us that we would have to pay double for him to pull such a heavy weight.

“Of course, dear,” said Rarity, levitating the bits out of her purse and giving them to the stallion. “To the Central Bank, please.”

***

I was watching out of the window.

The city looked undamaged by the fighting that had taken place here, but I guess Manehattan was a large city — the battle would have had to be truly monstrous to leave a noticeable mark. From what I knew, the enemy had struck surgically at the important areas of the city, such as the guard’s headquarters and police buildings.

Thankfully, Agent Clipper had somehow learned about the attack in advance and set up an ambush for the enemy forces. However, they had still managed to do a lot of damage, which had resulted in the death of the city’s mayor and some important figures all over the city. The remaining city council had appointed Clipper as the temporary mayor with emergency powers, until the situation had normalized.

It seemed like the city was functioning normally to an outsider’s point of view, though the closer we got to the center, the emptier it seemed. There were armed ponies patrolling the streets, each of them had a special band just like the ponies on the bridge. Each group like that had a police officer who appeared to be in charge, but for most of the ponies it looked like it was their first time holding a weapon.

So far, I hadn’t seen anypony who resembled a soldier.

Soon, the cab stopped in front of the large and imposing building. The rest and I stepped out, admiring this feat of architecture. The building had an impressive colonnade at its front that dwarfed a pony. The Bank was made out of gray rock and looked much older than the rest of the buildings in the neighborhood.

Judging by ponies going in and out, it was still open, even though the sun was about to set. It was my guess anyway, as I couldn’t see it behind the skyscrapers right now. The lamp poles had already been turned on though, brightly illuminating the streets.

“Are you sure it’ll work?” Marcus asked yet again. He’d been asking the same question for a while now.

With a condescending smile, Rarity assured him that it would and he shouldn’t worry.

“Well, if it’s anything like a bank in Britain, it won’t,” he said, frowning.

“I have to admit, he’s right,” I sighed. “Though I’ve had no experience with Equestrian ones, even before my memory loss, so I can’t speak for them.”

“I can,” Ruby stated grimly. “They’re heartless bastards.”

Rarity cringed at such a blunt statement and trotted up the stairs without saying a word. Having exchanged glances, we followed behind her. A security pony at the entrance let everypony pass, but as Marcus and I attempted to enter, he blocked our entrance with a raised hoof.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, keeping the annoyance out of my voice.

“You’re free to go, ma’am, but this creature here is a security risk,” the pony said evenly. “I cannot allow the entry of a rare creature, unless you have some papers proving their good intentions.”

“I’ve never heard of a law like that,” I said, feeling an anger rising inside of me.

“That is because rare creatures are…rare,” the pony explained. “I’m sorry, but it’s just how it is. I’d get fired if I let this creature in. For all I know, it might possess some dangerous abilities that would be a threat to the Bank’s property.”

“I’m not a bank robber, dude,” Marcus spread his hands. “And I’m not an it. But sure, I’ll just wait outside if that’s what you want…”

I opened my mouth to protest, but at that moment Ruby returned to see what was the problem. I quickly explained and she gave the pony an evil stare, which he simply ignored. However, I’d already realized that it was pointless to argue, and it would save everypony’s time if we just accepted his demands.

Nuzzling Marcus’ leg apologetically, I walked inside the Bank with Ruby. Once there, I took a moment to examine my surroundings. We were in a large hall, which was probably around the size of a baseball field. The lines of tables with bank workers were standing along the hall’s walls, though more than half of them were empty. The rest looked like they were drowning in work. Lines of ponies stretched almost all the way to the entrance.

It seemed like a lot of ponies wanted to withdraw their money after the recent events.

It couldn’t be good for the Bank, but it was even worse for me. I groaned when I imagined just how long I would have to stand on this insanely long line for us to finally have our turn. I knew that my muscles just weren’t up to the task yet.

“I hope this place works round-the-clock,” I commented. “Would be sad to learn that it’s closing for the night, after we’ve spent a couple of hours waiting.”

Rarity assured me that it wasn’t the case.

“I don’t know if Sunny can endure so much standing,” Ruby said, throwing me a pitiful glance. “We should have booked a hotel room first for her.”

“Well, my parents’ apartment is not very far from here,” I said, suddenly lighting up with an idea. “I can spend a night there and you’ll find me there after you finish your business here.”

“I’ll go with you.” Ruby’s reaction was predictable. “The others will do just fine without us.”

Rarity and Starlight both nodded, looking determined. The changeling, however, was clearly worried. He looked between us and finally asked, “What about me?”

“I think he should go with you,” Starlight said in a quiet voice. “Who knows, maybe they have some security measures against changelings.”

“I sincerely doubt that, darling,” Rarity said. “He’s been in the Guard for — how long — a few years, right? Nopony ever figured him out, so I doubt that a bank, even one as powerful as the Central Bank, would do so.”

Sturdy still widened his eyes in alarm at the very idea, looking around like he was expecting to be revealed at any moment. While I agreed with Rarity, I didn’t think Sturdy would be too happy now. Even worse, his nervous behavior would get the attention he’d prefer to avoid. But did I trust the changeling enough to introduce him to my parents? So far, he’d been on our side, so…

“Fine, but we should keep your nature a secret,” I nodded in the end.

Ruby made her disapproval of my decision pretty clear. She wasn’t at all enthusiastic about the prospect of a changeling being at our little family reunion, but since it was my family we were talking about, my marefriend had to accept it in the end.

“I’m sorry for causing trouble,” Sturdy said, drooping his ears.

“Don’t mind Ruby, she’s just a big meanie,” I grinned, poking Ruby’s side.

She growled something unintelligible, but then smiled herself.

“Just don’t make me regret it and we’ll be fine, okay?”

Sturdy nodded and we went on our way there at once.

I didn’t envy Starlight and Rarity who had stayed behind, and not just because of the long line. According to the alchemist from Tartarus, he’d left the ingredients in a secure bank vault under a false name. He paid up a big sum of money to assure it would be kept for centuries, so it should still be there.

The problem was that the cell required a key and a codeword to get access to. The codeword was not the issue, but the key was another matter entirely. Having spent centuries in Tartarus, the alchemist obviously had no idea where the key might be now. I didn’t know how my friends would convince the Bank to grant them access with just the codeword, but they were smart ponies; I was sure they’d come up with something.

For now, I concentrated on the more pressing matter that was on my mind – how my parents would react to my relationship with Ruby.

***

The apartment building hadn’t changed since the last time I was here. I exhaled in relief. Even though I knew the city hadn’t been damaged in the fighting, there were always exceptions. I saw one on my way here — the building had been burned down. I didn’t know if it had happened because of the fighting, but I was glad my old home had avoided the same fate.

I tried to predict my parents’ reaction to Marcus. I had explained everything about him on my previous visit, but now would be the first time they saw him in person. I was certain about one thing however — they wouldn’t judge him based on his appearance. After all, living in Manehattan gave a pony a special mindset.

Marcus didn’t attract nearly as much attention here as he had in Ponyville or even Canterlot. I guess that made sense, considering Manehattan’s status as the biggest international port in Equestria. The ponies here were used to seeing different creatures from all over the world; Marcus was just another one of them.

We entered the building and began climbing the stairs. It was quite a challenge for my poor legs. Despite all my attempts to struggle through the pain, they simply gave up on the third floor. I groaned when I recalled that the right apartment was near the top. There was no way I would reach it on my own.

I had to agree to Ruby’s offer.

It was slightly embarrassing for me to be carried on her back like a foal, but I endured it all the way up. Thankfully, we met no pony on our path. As we reached the top floor, I couldn’t help but be amazed at Ruby’s earth pony strength — she was only slightly winded by all her hard work! If we’d switched roles, I would likely have been crushed under her weight.

When we arrived in front of the right door, I stood on my own legs. My parents didn’t need to know about my injuries. I intended to tell them about the rest of my adventures, however, so I imagined they’d have their share of worrying without details like that.

Who knows, they may even attempt to ground me.

I knocked and only then suddenly remembered the state my mane was in. I tried to fix it up feverishly, when my mum opened the door. Her eyes widened upon seeing me.

“Hi, mum,” I shot rapidly, ceasing my activities.

A big smile bloomed on her face and she rushed towards me, crushing me into a bear hug. I couldn’t hold back a groan of pain as she squeezed my sore muscles. She released me at once, an obvious concern on her face.

“What’s wrong, Sundae?”

“You’re stronger than you look,” I tried to hide a lingering pain behind a forced smile.

I knew better than to think my mum would be so easy to fool, however. She pursed her lips and didn’t inquire any further, but I was expecting a serious talk later, once she got my father on her side. Dreading their combined assault, I introduced her to Marcus and Sturdy, hoping to distract her from myself.

Sturdy simply nodded, while Marcus bowed his head and even kissed an outstretched hoof like a true gentleman.

Mum smiled politely, “Thank you for bringing my daughter back.”

“She did it mostly on her own, but you’re very welcome, ma’am.”

We proceeded inside only to see my father on his way to see what was going on. Taught by earlier experience, I took a step back to avoid his hug. He folded his ears at such a rejection and I felt rotten for making him feel this way. I couldn’t bear it anymore.

“Sorry, it’s just that I’ve had an accident… My body is all sore,” I explained.

It couldn’t be helped since it was out in the open anyway. Trying to hide the obvious would only make my parents needlessly suspicious and worried, which was exactly what I was trying to avoid in the first place. I was still going to keep out Starlight’s involvement, though.

“Oh sweetie, what happened?” mum asked with wide eyes.

Before I began my story, we went into the main room, where I laid down on a couch; my legs were comfortably spread to the side. It took some time to share everything and I was careful to avoid the most questionable parts. My friends helped to fill in the gaps, but I was speaking for most of the time.

“Whoa, I knew that something bad was happening out there, but I didn’t know how bad it really was…” my mother mumbled after I finished. “And worst of all, you’re right in the thick of this.”

“Yeah, she’s a hero, my Sunny,” Ruby said, gently leaning on me.

Mother and father both gave us a puzzled glance and I realized that I had somehow failed to mention the exact nature of our new relationship. Well, at least that was something I could happily share with an open heart.

“By the way, Ruby and I are marefriends,” I announced with a large grin.

***

Such a large revelation sparked a whole set of reactions. Thankfully, positive ones. My mum jumped off her chair and ran towards me. I recoiled slightly, but she was careful to hug me very gently. Then she switched to Ruby and this time didn’t hold back her enthusiasm. Ruby grunted, but returned the hug with an equal force.

I rolled my eyes. Those earth ponies’ competitiveness…

Then it was my father’s turn. He was more restrained, but I could tell he was no less happy than my mum.

“I thought I’d never see that moment,” he said, glowing from the inside.

“Sunny is a big girl now,” my mum added. “I didn’t know she was into mares though, but it’s not a problem!”

Dad shot her a stare and she chuckled nervously.

“Anyway, I think this calls for a celebration.”

Having said that, she went to the kitchen and returned, carrying a few dishes. My face fell when I laid my eyes upon them. The portions were so small! It wasn’t that I was particularly hungry or something, but knowing my mum, she would never treat her guests like that. Something must be seriously wrong.

“Sorry, but the city has been having some food troubles lately…” she apologized.

“Oh,” I said, lowering my ears.

If Manehattan was having problems with food, it was a serious issue indeed. Hundreds of thousands of ponies lived in the city, and quite a lot of food was delivered from the neighboring regions to feed them all. If those supply lines had been disrupted because of the fighting… We were looking at the face of a true disaster. The whole city would starve.

That hadn’t happened in Equestria since its foundation.

But right now, I didn’t want to ruin my mood, so I shoved those concerns to the back of my head. Tomorrow, there would be plenty of time for worrying, but today I just wanted to celebrate with my parents, however scarce the food might be. The rest seemed to think along the same lines.

“You’ve always been so cute together,” my mum suddenly said, patting me and Ruby on our heads like some little fillies.

I blushed, noticing Marcus and Sturdy’s grins in the corner of my eye.

“No, you haven’t,” my father countered, his eyes twinkling. “Remember that one colt in third…”

“Shush!” mum waved her hooves at him.

Ruby giggled by my side and then gave me an unexpected kiss on the lips, probably to demonstrate that she was a much better choice than some random colt. I lost myself in her tongue, forgetting all about my parents and friends watching. When I finally remembered where we were, it was too late.

“That’s my girl,” dad grinned, making my cheeks flush in embarrassment. Ruby giggled again, seeing my reaction.

We spent the rest of the evening exchanging jokes like that. At some point, Sturdy joined the conversation, seeming slightly drunk for some reason, but honoring our deal, he never mentioned that he was a changeling. We came up with a story that he was a guard, appointed by Celestia to help us and it wasn’t even that far from truth.

However, it was getting too late. We didn’t know when Starlight and Rarity would return, but I assumed that we’d have to leave early, so it was important we’d get some shuteye no matter how much I wanted this beautiful evening to last forever.

“I don’t know about you, but I feel tired,” I announced.

My parents’ apartment was small, but we managed to find a place for everypony. Ruby and I got to share my old room, obviously. The bed in there was single-sized, but I didn’t mind getting in close quarters with my mare. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Marcus and Sturdy had to settle for a couch in the main room. Since the couch was also single-sized and they, unlike us, did mind the intimate closeness with each other, the two had to settle the issue the old human way.

Rock, paper, scissors.

While mum and dad were both in the kitchen, Marcus quickly explained the rules to Sturdy and the changeling, much to my distress, transformed his hoof to resemble a human hand. Seeing a pony with a human hand was pretty disturbing, so I volunteered to distract my parents in the kitchen, while the boys played games with each other.

Marcus won, but it was a hollow victory. The couch was pony-sized, so Marcus’ legs freely hung from the opposite side. Sturdy grinned maliciously watching his struggle to find a good position, until Marcus threw a pillow at his face. The changeling just thanked him and tucked it under his own head, settling to sleep right on the floor, while Marcus swore under his nose.

I chuckled and, having wished them both a good night, went to my own room. Ruby was already lying on my fillyhood bed. As soon as I saw her there, all my adolescent fantasies came back randomly. More than once did I imagine another pony sharing this bed with me, though at the time they were always stallions… I tried to imagine one of them in Ruby’s place and cringed involuntarily.

“Huh?” Ruby asked, drooping her ears.

“Oh, sorry. Just remembered some bad episode from the past,” I lied.

“Well, I’m here to listen,” Ruby relaxed and patted a small patch of the bed beside her.

I grinned and climbed towards her eagerly. We were leaning so close to each other — it was the only way on such a small bed. Ruby looked at me expectantly, but I wasn’t in the mood to come up with some cover story and telling her the truth would definitely sour the mood.

Instead, I climbed on top of Ruby and kissed her. This time, nopony was here to stop us.

***

The next morning, I was having breakfast with my family and friends, when somepony knocked. My mum went to open the door as per usual, and soon Rarity and Starlight joined us in the kitchen. Both of them looked like they hadn’t slept since yesterday, with heavy bags under their eyes. They likely hadn’t, I realized.

“They refused to give us anything!” Starlight announced, hitting her hoof at the wall in frustration.

“Even though we showed them the letter from the Princess, I might add,” Rarity said more calmly.

“Well, it was only a request, not an order,” I sighed. “The Princess has no authority over the Bank.”

Before we had left, Princess Celestia had warned us that the Bank would likely make things difficult. Only the High Court’s decision would make them release the content of a client’s locker on demand. It wouldn’t be a problem to get it with enough evidence, but the High Court wasn’t functioning at the moment, for obvious reasons.

“What should we do now?” I said, looking at my friends.

“Rarity and I were thinking about that on the way here,” Starlight began.

“And we hoped that you would help us to decide,” Rarity continued. “I think I know how we would get the key that the Bank is demanding, but Starlight thinks that it’s a waste of time and we should just ask Agent Clipper for help, so that he can force the Bank to give it up.”

Starlight nodded. “That’s right. We can’t afford to go on a wild goose chase right now.”

“Well, somepony here owns a business and would prefer to have her relationship with the Bank intact, thank you.”

Starlight blew a raspberry at her instead of answering. I looked between the two of them, raising my eyebrows.

“I like Starlight’s idea more,” Ruby said. “It would be a good lesson for those rich bastards, who think they can hide whatever they want in there.”

Rarity gave my friend a hurt look. “I have a locker there myself. Am I one of those rich bastards too?”

“N-no, I didn’t mean it like that,” Ruby flustered, shaking her head. “I mean ponies like that alchemist!”

“What was your idea, Rarity?” I interrupted to prevent any further arguing.

“Oh, it’s a stretch, really,” she said, turning her attention towards me. “But it shouldn’t take too much of our time. You see, according to the alchemist, the key was in his house when he was arrested. And as I know, the police should have notes about what happened to all of his possessions.”

Rarity smiled triumphantly.

“Wait a second,” Marcus raised his arm in the air. Everypony looked at him. “If they had the key for the bank locker, wouldn’t they have checked what was inside themselves?”

I opened my mouth. It was actually a valid concern. Celestia had never mentioned that, but what if the police had emptied the locker a long time ago? After all, even she couldn’t know everything. If that had happened, then our journey would have been a big waste of time. Judging by my friend’s concerned faces, they had the same worries as me.

“No, they wouldn’t,” my mum, who’d been sitting quietly before, suddenly stated.

All heads turned towards her in surprise. She smiled, basking in attention, before elaborating.

“The Bank used to be much more exclusive and powerful in the old times,” mum said. “It belonged to the Griffon Kingdom and it still does. The richest and most powerful nobles and merchants in Equestria would often hide their money or illegal possessions there to avoid the authorities. Celestia had to tolerate it because she didn’t want to ruin the relationships between the kingdoms. Only when the Griffon Kingdom basically fell did Equestria make the Bank submit to Equestrian laws.”

I gaped, astonished at the revelation. Not about the Bank’s nature, but my mum’s knowledge about that. It was at a level of detail I would expect from Twilight, but my mum had worked in some small office her whole life! How could she possibly know all that?

She noticed my stare and her face took on a smug expression.

“Wow, miss Milkshake, I can see now where Sunny got her interest in archaeology from,” Ruby said.

“Actually, it’s the other way around,” my mum said, drooping her ears slightly. “When my little Sunny had disappeared, I tried to find some hobby to cope with it. The local history club was a good way to do that while also honoring her memory…”

She blinked a few times and her smile returned in full force. “Thankfully, Sunny is alive.”

I sniffed, struggling to contain my emotions — I didn’t want to become all sappy in front of my friends and, especially, my dad. He always cried when I cried, and I didn’t want to embarrass him in front of our company.

“Anyway, I think we should ask Agent’s Clipper advice on the matter,” I concluded, switching the topic back to business. “We’ll need to meet him in any case. Last I remember, the police chief didn’t like us much. I don’t want to end up in jail again.”

“Again?!” mum and dad both exclaimed.

Oh.

I guess I’d forgotten to mention that part of our adventures the last time I’d been at my parents’ home. I quickly shared the story with them — it wasn’t like it was any worse than some of the stuff I’d shared last night.

“What else haven’t you told us?” my father narrowed his eyes.

I gulped. I really did skip over a few dangerous moments to spare my parents’ feelings. I didn’t want them to worry needlessly, but I couldn’t bring myself to outright lie if my father was set on getting the full truth…

“Nothing, that’s all,” I squeaked, shaking my head vigorously. “I swear.”

Dad gave me a suspicious look, but thankfully didn’t press the issue.

Rarity and Starlight joined us for breakfast, while we discussed the best course of action. Both options had their benefits and drawbacks.

As for me, I was more inclined towards Rarity’s plan. On the one hoof, finding the key would grant us the access we wanted. But on the other — there was no guarantee that we would actually find it in the first place. It could cost us a lot of time.

Starlight’s plan was more straightforward. She wanted to ask Clipper to threaten the Bank. There was no guarantee he would go for it, however, and even if he di, becoming enemies with the city’s most powerful bank would cause some serious problems for the city in the long run. I would choose this option only if we had no other choice.

In the end, the group was split in half between the two choices, so everypony eventually agreed to wait until we’d heard Clipper’s opinion on the matter.

“Well, let’s go meet the pony, then.”

***

As much as I wanted to spend more time with my parents, I went along with my friends. The meeting with Clipper was too important for me to miss. Besides, I was having serious concerns about the food issue and I wanted to know firsthoof if something was being done about it.

My parents were far from poor, but their situation left much to be desired. I was sure that plenty of others were doing much worse. Even if we were to defeat Tenebris, it wouldn’t automatically make everything peachy — the ponies would have to work hard to return Equestria to its former glory, so the earlier we started, the better.

The cab we’d taken delivered us to the city’s Capitol in a good time. We were hoping to find Agent Clipper there, but when the building met us with empty windows and black stains on the walls, it became painfully obvious that we wouldn’t find him here.

The building had been burned down, for Celestia’s sake!

I guess the cab pony had “forgotten” to mention that little fact when he had received his payment. I should have guessed that asking to be paid in advance was fishy… I turned around, but he had already vanished in the heavy traffic. I sighed — I missed the simple life in Ponyville.

“What a crook,” Ruby stomped a hoof on the pavement.

Rarity, on the other hoof, accepted it in stride. She just waived it off as some minor issue and approached one of the ponies passing by.

“Excuse me, sir, do you happen to know where the city administration has been moved to?”

“Heck if I know, pretty,” the pony drawled, ogling Rarity over. “Tell you what, have a date with me and I’ll find out for ya.”

“No, thank you,” Rarity rebutted him.

As his pick-up line had failed, the pony simply shrugged and walked away.

Unperturbed, Rarity trotted up to the next pedestrian. That mare was more cooperative and told Rarity where the city administration was temporarily residing. Luckily, it wasn’t even far from where we already were. There was no reason to take another cab — even my legs would be able to make such a short trip.

I couldn’t go fast, so it still took us twenty minutes of walking, but finally we were there. At least, I assumed it was the place. It was a small brick building three storeys high, just like the rest of its brethren in the neighborhood. The only thing different about it was a constant flow of ponies going in and out.

We walked inside and for the first time in Manehattan I saw the armored guards. They weren’t wearing the golden-colored armor of the Royal Guard, but it made them look even more menacing. The guards didn’t allow us in further, until we gave up our weapons.

It was a reasonable request, so we complied with it with no complaint.

One of the guards told us to talk to the secretary if we wanted to schedule a meeting with Clipper. I let out a long sigh when I saw a line of ponies stretching to the secretary’s table. It was hot inside with all the ponies being in such a cramped space, so it wasn’t a pleasant wait. Thankfully, the line moved pretty fast and soon we were standing in front of the secretary.

“We would like to meet Agent Clipper, please,” Rarity said, showing her a polite smile.

“Why?” the mare behind the table asked in a detached voice.

“The Princess has sent us here to do some important business and Clipper can help us,” I said bluntly.

The secretary mare looked us over doubtfully and then her gaze stopped at Rarity. Her eyes widened slightly.

“Miss Rarity,” she said in a more lively voice. “I’m so glad to see you here. Are the rest of the Elements also here to help us?”

“I’m afraid not, dear,” Rarity shook her head. “They’re on a quest of their own. But we’re here on behalf of Princess Celestia, so it’s important that we meet Clipper right away.”

“Of course, Miss Rarity, you can go immediately; the boss is not meeting anypony at the moment.”

Rarity nodded regally and trotted in the indicated direction. The rest of us followed her. There were another couple of guards outside of Clipper office, but they allowed us to pass freely when Rarity demonstrated a written note from the secretary.

Together, we walked in to face the famous agent.

A blue-coated pegasus was sitting behind a table. He gave us a nod, acknowledging our presence, and returned to writing something. We exchanged confused glances and then Rarity stepped forward, clearing her throat. Clipper raised his hoof, signing her to be quiet.

We spent the next minute in uncomfortable silence.

“Hello, ponies and a human,” the agent finally said, putting a scroll away. “You were right about the Doctor.”

“Eh, thanks?” I shrugged. “The Doctor has kind of switched sides, by the way. Tenebris is our main enemy now.”

“I’m aware of that, Sundae. I’ve received the reports.”

I drooped my ears for a moment, but then straightened them again.

“We’ve found a way to defeat her, but we need your help,” I continued.

“I’m listening,” Clipper said, offering us a seat.

In the following minutes, my friends and I laid out everything about Tenebris, the Void Stone, the alchemist from Tartarus and the rest. We finished with the two options we were struggling to choose between. Clipper remained silent throughout the whole story. I had no idea what he was thinking — his face remained impassive.

“I see,” Clipper said in the end.

Silence hung over the room again. Clipper looked past us at the wall, deeply thinking about what I’d just said. I exchanged glances with my friends and then cleared my throat to get the pegasus’ attention back to us.

He looked at me with narrowed eyes.

“I was thinking,” he explained. “The Bank is a powerful organization. It would be unwise for the city to make enemies with them. I will order the police to help you search the evidence archives. However, if you don’t manage to find the key by the evening, I will make an ultimatum to the bank.”

“Can’t you make the ultimatum now?” Starlight asked. “Every second we waste—”

“No,” Clipper interrupted her.

Starlight was silent for a few seconds, being thrown off her trail of thought, and then asked, “Why?”

“I’ve already said everything.”

“Well, okay then,” Rarity chuckled nervously, “I guess we need to start looking, right?”

Clipper nodded, watching us expectantly. My friends turned around to leave, but I wasn’t ready to go until I’d asked the questions that were on my mind. I approached the table under Clipper’s impassive stare and gathered up my resolve.

“Excuse me, Mr. Clipper, but I need to know something,” I paused for a moment before continuing, “How bad is the food situation in the city?”

Clipper dipped his head down.

“The situation is grave,” he said in a low voice. “I’ve already given orders to introduce a card system to distribute the food, but it’s taking too long. If we don’t restore the trade route from Fillydelphia within a week, the city will begin to starve.”

I wasn’t at all shocked by the news as I’d already had my suspicions, but hearing the confirmation from the city’s current leader made it so much worse to bear. My friends, however, had been taken by surprise.

“Damn…” Marcus mumbled under his breath.

“Unfortunately, Fillydelphia is in chaos,” continued Clipper. “I’m gathering a sufficient force right now to send there and restore some order, but I don’t really have anypony I can trust to put in command.”

“How about your pal, Agent Broom?” Ruby asked.

A slight frown appeared on Clipper’s face. “She’s dead.”

“Oh.”

“Anyway, my assistant will show you to the archives.”

Having said that, Clipper quickly wrote something on a piece of parchment and stamped it, “Those are the orders. My secretary will explain how to find him.”

I grabbed the parchment in my magic.

“One more thing,” I asked before leaving, “Is Chief Iron Cuffs still in power?”

“No, she’s not.”

I asked to elaborate and Clipper briefly explained what had happened.

Turns out the mare had been working for the Doctor’s organization. Of course, it wasn’t hard to imagine, given that she had done everything she could to cause problems for our investigation. She was going to play a big part in the rebellion and her arrest had been one of the reasons why it had failed in Manehattan.

Unfortunately, she had managed to escape custody. The prison she’d been put in had been raided during the riot and every criminal there had escaped into the city to spread chaos. Some of them had already been caught, but a lot more remained, including the ex-chief herself.

“Well, it’s one silver lining in this whole situation,” Rarity concluded.

***

The archives were in a different part of the city, so we called a cab to get there. Since Clipper’s assistant was a pegasus, he went ahead of us and had already been waiting there by the time we arrived at the place.

“The police archives,” the pony announced, nodding at the big gray building with no windows. It looked like some old warehouse from the outside and likely from the inside too, considering its purpose.

Once in the lobby, we were greeted by a lone officer. Clipper’s assistant showed the written orders and we were granted access to the archive itself.

“I think it’s a waste of time,” Starlight whispered to the rest of us, while the officer was opening the secure door. “If Clipper had given the Bank an ultimatum, we would have been on our way to Tartarus right now.”

“Totally agree,” Ruby nodded.

I didn’t say anything — there was no point when everything had already been decided on.

“It will go like this,” the assistant said, walking into the room first. “We will search the boxes from year to year. Does anypony know the exact date when this alchemist of yours was arrested?”

We exchanged glances, only now realizing the problem. Nopony obviously knew such a thing. All we had was just a rough estimate. I was sure Twilight would know, but she was in the Crystal Empire, so her knowledge was useless for us at the moment..

Well, at least we knew the alchemist’s real name.

“Sorry, no,” I said to the assistant, drooping my ears under his disappointed glance.

But there was nothing to be done about that. As I walked inside the archive, I stopped and gawked at the sheer amount of stuff inside the big, spacey hall. Row upon row of boxes were standing there, collected from hundreds of years of crime fighting. We would be spending months going through all that…

“Well, dive right in, everypony,” Starlight offered with a false cheerfulness in her voice.

I sighed and went in a random direction. I looked at the shelves, looking for the year closest to our estimated date of the alchemist’s arrest. I was about 500 years off and only going further away, so I retracted my steps and went into a different row that I hoped was closer to my goal.

In the end, it was Sturdy who found the shelf from the right time period. Even so, we had to go through each box there searching for the right one. Thankfully, we had seven pairs of eyes and hooves among us, it took us less time than I had feared to find it.

“This is it!” Ruby pointed at a large wooden crate at the back of the shelf.

Rarity moved it closer with her magic and opened it. We all greedily looked inside. One by one, Rarity took out the various items, carefully setting them on the floor nearby. There was a journal, a collection of slightly disturbing pictures of fillies, a dry bone that I hoped belonged to an animal and a lot more.

“Finally!” Rarity exclaimed in exhilaration, holding the small key with the locker’s number in her magic.

***

Having completed his orders, the assistant left us on our own. We didn’t need his help any longer, however, so we said our goodbyes to the officer in charge of the archives and were on our way back in no time.

“And you thought it was a waste of time,” Rarity chided Starlight, as we were riding in another cab.

Starlight shrugged. “Well, as long as it works, I don’t care much…”

We arrived at Clipper’s residence just a couple of hours after we’d left for the archives in the first place. This time, we didn’t have to stand in line and cut straight to the pegasus’ office. The secretary warned us that he was having a meeting, but our mission was arguably more important.

Rarity opened the door first and trotted inside, wielding a key. “We found it!”

Clipper and the young mare he was having a meeting with turned to us. The mare wore a surprised expression; however, the Agent’s face remained impassive at the news.

“Who are you?” the mare asked, raising her eyebrows.

“They’re on an important mission from the Princess,” explained Clipper. “We shall continue our talk later,” he added in a dismissive tone.

The mare frowned, but left without any arguing, throwing a curious glance in our direction as she walked out. With her gone, Clipper turned his full attention to us.

“You’ve succeeded,” he concluded, looking at a grinning Rarity. “Good. I’ll personally go to the Bank with you to ensure their full cooperation.”

For some reason, I felt a slight chill in my belly as he said it.

True to his word, Clipper quickly gathered a small group of guards to accompany him and, leaving some orders to the secretary, was ready to go with us to the Bank. I was a little surprised at such readiness for action, but I guess he just wanted to get away from all the administrative duties that had fallen upon him lately.

We rode to the Bank together in a government carriage. Clipper sat close to us and didn’t say a word for the whole duration of our journey, but I was enjoying the ride too much to pay any thought to that. The interior was much more comfortable than a typical taxicab. The seats here were so soft, they rivaled the beds in the royal palace!

Sadly, I didn’t get to enjoy them for long — we arrived at our destination shortly.

The same security pony who had caused Marcus trouble in the past met us at the entrance. This time, however, he was quickly silenced by Clipper’s heavy stare and we all proceeded into the building.

I sighed, expecting a long wait upon seeing the long line, but Clipper had a different idea. We simply followed in his wake as he cut through the crowd, ignoring the sounds of complaints.

The ponies shut up pretty quickly when they saw the guard’s armored bodies.

“It’s me again,” Rarity gave a sweet smile, approaching a clerk at one of the tables.

The poor stallion in a white shirt looked up in surprise and opened his eyes wide in recognition. I wondered what had happened yesterday that would make him react that way… The stallion forced an obviously fake smile on his face in return.

“How may I help you, Miss Rarity?”

With a triumphant smile, Rarity demonstrated the key to him.

“You told us we needed to have a key and here it is.”

The clerk grasped it and examined it closely for quite some time.

“This… appears to be genuine,” he admitted reluctantly.

Rarity’s eyes flashed dangerously and the pony leaned back.

“Well, of course it is,” she waved her hoof, grabbing the key back. “Did you think I was lying? You’ve wasted enough time as it is, mister. Now give us the pass, please.”

I noticed a flicker of a smile on Clipper’s face that may have been my imagination.

The clerk practically threw a small card at Rarity. She caught it in her magic and, having said her thanks, left. Everypony but Clipper was giggling openly when we’d gotten far enough from the clerk.

“What was that?” Ruby asked, chuckling.

“This pony caused us a lot of trouble yesterday,” Starlight answered instead of Rarity. “Honestly, I wanted to bite his head off.”

We turned serious when we approached the large enchanted door at the far end of the hall. The door was guarded by two tough-looking griffons. They watched our big procession with some concern, but their attitude was professional.

“Your pass, please,” one of them asked.

After Rarity demonstrated the card, the griffon pushed a button and the big, steel door opened without a creak.

“Be aware that there are special enchantments in place, so we will know if you try to open the wrong locker. The door will be sealed automatically and the whole place is magic proof, so be careful, please.”

Rarity nodded solemnly and walked in first. I hesitated a little, looking at the heavy door and imagining what would happen if something broke. Ruby pushed me on my flank and I trotted forward, dismissing my silly concerns.

After all, hundreds of ponies had been here before me and no one had died, as far as I knew.

The room was pretty large, but smaller than the main hall. It had several catwalks layered over each other along the walls to access the higher placed lockers. Thankfully, they were numbered in order, so we found the one belonging to the alchemist pretty fast.

We stood in front of it for a few moments, wondering if what we were seeking was still inside.

“Well, open it, lady,” Clipper said with a note of impatience.

Rarity nodded and finally turned the key, opening the locker and pulling out the container inside. Everypony held their breath as she slowly lifted the top of the container.

“Ew,” Ruby scrunched her muzzle, when she saw the content.

I had the same initial reaction, but at the same time I was happy.

We had found the ingredients.

Now all we had to do was to bring them to Tartarus.

Part IV - Chapter 21: A Change In Plans

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CHAPTER 21 – A Change in Plans

Even Clipper seemed a little sick when he examined the ingredients up close and was told what they really were. Starlight quickly transferred them into her saddlebag, far from everypony’s eyes.

It was a relief.

After seeing that disgusting stuff with my own eyes, I began to question if the end justified the means. But when it was either that or the bloodbath that would inevitably occur if we were to go against Tenebris in her full power, there wasn’t really much of a choice.

I briefly wondered if we still would have gone for it if we’d had to procure the ingredients ourselves.

“I know what you intend to do next,” Clipper said as soon as we left the Bank. “I, however, have a different proposal.”

Everypony glanced at the pegasus with interest. A panicked thought flickered in my mind — he wanted to prevent us from making the Stone — but then I realized that that couldn’t be it. For the brief time I’d known Clipper, I’d gotten the impression that this pony wasn’t afraid to break a few eggs to achieve his goals.

His next words fully alleviated my concerns.

What Clipper had in mind was to send some of his fastest pegasi to deliver the ingredients, instead of our little group. The whole process of forging a void stone was a lengthy affair; according to the book, it would take no less than a whole week. So while the alchemist was working on that, we would have absolutely nothing to do.

Clipper couldn’t allow such a waste.

“Don’t you have some other ponies to do this?” Rarity asked, flicking her ear nervously.

“I do,” Clipper confirmed with a nod, “But as a good leader, I shall consider every resource available to increase my chances of success.”

“Resource?” the mare repeated incredulously. “I am not just some reso—”

“I don’t have time to listen to your whining, lady,” Clipper interrupted a shocked Rarity with a wave of his hoof. “I’ve got a city to save. There would be no point in defeating Tenebris if there were no country left afterward.”

It was a statement nopony could refute.

“We need to discuss the matter privately if you don’t mind,” I said, interposing myself between Clipper and a fuming Rarity. Her face was so red that I was afraid she’d get a stroke.

“Okay,” Clipper nodded, completely oblivious to the livid unicorn behind me. “I’ll be waiting for your answer in my office. Don’t take too long, please.”

Having said that, he and his guards got into the government carriage that had delivered us here in the first place and took off, quickly disappearing in the traffic.

I sighed — I’d really hoped to hitch another ride in it… It wasn’t often that I got to enjoy such a luxury. Twilight’s Castle was good, of course, but not exactly what I’d been expecting from a pony of her status. A moment later, I dismissed those silly thoughts to hear what Rarity was saying.

“This Clipper is such a ruffian,” Rarity shook her head in dismay, redness coming off from her cheeks. “No manners whatsoever. I have to admit, I liked him better when he was quiet all the time.”

“But he’s right, though,” I countered, ignoring Rarity’s irked glance. “I think we should do what he says. What about you all?”

Ruby stood beside me. “I’m with Sunny.”

“Well, I’m not sure I want to trust some stranger with this”, Starlight nodded towards her saddlebag. “It’s our best shot against Tenebris, after all.”

“You can go with Clipper’s pegasi to make sure the ingredients are safe,” Ruby offered. “I’m sure pulling a chariot with you on it won’t slow them down much.”

Starlight drooped her ears. I flickered a glance at Ruby to make sure she wasn’t making this offer just to get rid of Starlight because she was still harboring some grudge, but saw nothing that would support that suspicion.

“I don’t want us to separate,” Starlight said with a sullen expression. “What Clipper wants could be pretty dangerous. What if something happened to any of you because I wasn’t there to help?”

I sighed. I hated the idea of separating with any of my friends myself, but I had to put Equestria above my personal desires. I steeled my resolve, ready to accept any decision my friends would make.

“I can’t let Manehattan starve if I can do something about it,” I stated firmly. “Whatever all of you decide on, I’m going to Fillydelphia.”

Rarity cleared her throat. “If I may,” she began when everypony looked at her, “I want to say that I’m inclined to accept Clipper’s offer as well. Even though he was rather rude, I can’t deny his logic. By helping him free Fillydelphia, we’ll be much more useful than simply sitting on our flanks in Tartarus, waiting for the alchemist to make the stone. I spent a week there, so believe me when I say that place is dreadful.”

“But somepony needs to make sure the alchemist is doing what he’d promised to do,” Starlight pointed out. “Who knows what’s on his mind after hundreds of years of imprisonment?”

“If you know what to do, why don’t you make the stone yourself?” Marcus suddenly asked.

Starlight shook her head. “I could try, but I’ve never done it before and the process is pretty complicated, even for me. We have only one shot at this and I’d rather trust somepony who’s done it before, even if it’s somepony like him.”

“So, are you going to Tartarus?” I asked.

“Yeah, I have to do it,” Starlight waved her hoof. “It’s fine. I just really hate that we have to split up…”

“I completely understand and share your feelings, darling,” Rarity approached her, embracing the mare in a hug. “I miss the girls every day. But sometimes, you have to do what’s necessary.”

Still in her hug, Starlight bobbed her head in agreement. She blinked a few tears away. “Yeah... Speaking of the girls, I wonder how they’re doing in the Crystal Empire?”

The two mares separated from the hug and Rarity gave her a warm smile.

“I’m sure they’re fine,” she said. “They’re probably already marching towards Canterlot with the Crystal Army.”

“It would be awesome,” Ruby said. “I’ve never seen a Crystal Pony before.”

A smile flickered on Rarity’s lips. “Their coat looks simply divine, darling,” she said and then looked in the direction where Clipper had gone earlier. “That damn stallion couldn’t have waited for us just five more minutes,” I heard her mutter.

***

I offered to go to Clipper’s office on hoof. It was a strain on my legs, but I insisted on doing it anyway. I wanted to be ready for the upcoming journey, and being too easy on myself wouldn’t help. Of course, I was also careful not to overstretch myself. It was important to keep the balance between the two.

And so far, I had succeeded.

I was so proud of myself when I finally saw the familiar building. Sure, the journey had taken us longer than if we’d taken a cab, but the little delay was worth the result. Besides, Clipper would be launching the mission tomorrow, so we had some time to spare. It was not even noon yet.

As we were approaching, however, I realized something. Unlike my friends, the whole army wouldn’t wait for me if I weren’t able to keep up. Despite my best efforts, I still couldn’t go fast for too long without causing some pain to my muscles. That meant that if the pragmatic Clipper learned about my injury, he wouldn’t let me come.

And there was no point in trying to hide my condition.

“Sunny, what’s wrong?” Ruby asked, noticing my rapidly deteriorating mood. Those expressive ears…

I shared my fears with the rest.

“Well, I wouldn’t mind some company,” Starlight said after a moment of silence.

I cringed. It wasn’t that I was against the idea of being with Starlight, I just didn’t want to uselessly sit in Tartarus while my friends were risking their lives.

“Don’t worry, Sunny, I won’t leave you alone,” Ruby said, nuzzling my neck.

“Yeah, me neither,” Marcus added.

I looked at them with mixed feelings. On the one hoof, it was nice to know they wanted to support me, but on the other, I didn’t want them to trade in an opportunity to help the whole city for being bored with me in Tartarus.

“Let’s not be too hasty,” I said, my tail twitching. “I’ve got an idea.”

We entered the building in silence. The secretary gave us a nod and we walked past her to Clipper’s office. I had a feeling of déjà vu when we found the same young mare with a brown coat having a meeting with Clipper.

The earth mare looked back at us accusingly, making me feel bad for having to interrupt her meeting again. I gave her an apologetic smile and then switched my attention to the stone-faced Clipper.

“We will join your army,” I announced.

“I knew you would,” Clipper said with a curt nod. “Now let us discuss—”

“But we have a little problem,” I interrupted the pegasus, feeling a strange satisfaction from observing his eyebrows furrowing slightly. “I was injured recently and I haven’t fully recovered. I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep up. But you’d have some carts going along, right? I can hitch a ride if it gets too hard.”

Clipper was silent for a few seconds, pondering the news.

“It sounds reasonable to me,” the young mare offered her input. “We’ll be pulling along a couple of supply carts, and I’m sure we can squeeze one little mare onto one of them.”

I wasn’t sure I liked her little remark — she wasn’t a giant herself — but I let it slip.

“Is it wise, Lady Blade?” Clipper asked and the mare looked at him. “Sundae will be a liability in her condition.”

“She’s not a liability!” Ruby stomped her hoof in a sudden flash of anger. “Besides, she’s a unicorn, so it doesn’t matter if she can’t walk fast enough, as long as her magic is up to the task. And I can assure you, it is.”

I gave Ruby a nuzzle at her cheek, grateful for her words of support.

“Please, I want to go,” I said, addressing Clipper. “Besides, my friends won’t go without me.”

“I won’t reject any able citizen willing to join me,” Blade stated firmly.

“Fine,” Clipper waved his hoof in slight annoyance. “As long as the job gets done, I have no objections.”

I smiled, relieved at the outcome, and nodded towards Lady Blade to thank her for the support. As that issue had been settled, Starlight took a step forward.

“I won’t be joining my friends this time,” she said with a note of sadness. “I’ll be more useful in Tartarus. I can’t allow the alchemist to work unsupervised.”

Clipper sighed. “I was counting on you the most,” he explained. “Your magical prowess would be useful for the task at hoof.”

Starlight smirked and pointed at me and Rarity. “My friends are perfectly capable unicorns in their own right.”

Reluctantly, Clipper nodded.

“Whatever. I’ll give the order to have a chariot prepared for you.”

Despite what Starlight had said about me, I didn’t feel all that powerful. I was an average unicorn, which I’m sure they’d already have plenty of in the army. I wasn’t going because I thought the mission would fail without me — I wasn’t that arrogant.

“I’m Blade, by the way,” the earth mare introduced herself. “Swift Blade. I’m going to lead our army to Fillydelphia. Though calling us an “army” would be a big stretch,” she chuckled.

“Lady Blade here is an ex-guardsmare,” Clipper explained. “When the fighting started, she organized a group of volunteers. Their help was crucial in cleaning the enemy out of the city.”

I looked at the mare with some new interest, noticing a few scars on her body I hadn’t seen at first. Her brown coat hid them well enough. Her well-toned muscles caught my attention and I found myself staring for too long to be considered polite. I quickly switched my gaze to her face before anypony, especially Ruby, made any wrong assumptions.

The rest of my friends introduced themselves to Lady Blade in turn, though I wasn’t sure “lady” was an appropriate term for her. She was even less lady-like than a sweaty Applejack on harvest day. Her shortly cut red mane didn’t help one bit.

The mare had her own beauty, though.

“I want to make one thing clear — you would have to listen to my orders as long as you’re going along,” Blade furrowed her eyebrows to give us a hard stare. “Is that acceptable?”

We exchanged glances and slowly nodded one by one. It was a reasonable request, after all.

After that, Starlight discussed the details of her own task with Clipper.

“As soon as the stone is ready, I’m going to Canterlot with it,” Starlight said.

“Why?” Clipper shook his head. “The stone is a double-edged sword. Tenebris won’t be able to use magic, but neither will you. You won’t be able to get to Tenebris without an army. I’d suggest you bring the stone back to me.

“As soon as Lady Blade has secured the supply route from Fillydelphia, I’ll be able to move our forces to Canterlot. We’ll take it by storm and once Tenebris is vulnerable, we will kill her using the stone.”

“Whoa, you have it all thought out,” Ruby said, looking at the pegasus in surprise.

I mulled over Clipper’s plan. We were counting on the Crystal Army coming to our help, but it wasn’t guaranteed, despite Rarity’s earlier assurances. So overall, Clipper’s idea was pretty solid.

“Besides, if the Royal Palace were to fall while the stone is in there, we’d just lose it,” Clipper added. “It would be more secure with me.”

That was something I’d forgotten to consider. It wouldn’t matter if the Crystal Army came or not, if the void stone was lost to the enemy. Our side could still win, of course, but the fight with Tenebris would wreck the city. Starlight had realized the same thing, judging by her slightly agape mouth.

“Oh, I see,” she said. “Very well, I’ll return with the stone to Manehattan and we will discuss it further then.”

“Good idea. I want to kill Tenebris personally,” Clipper said, and for the first time I saw him smile.

***

Starlight left soon after the talk.

After we had exchanged a parting hug, she climbed into the chariot that was waiting for her outside and flew off as we waved her goodbye. I sighed. I really didn’t want her to go, but she was right — somepony had to watch the alchemist. I comforted myself by hoping that we’d meet again soon.

If nothing bad happened to prevent it...

Suppressing that particular train of thought, I paid a visit to my mum and dad to warn them about me leaving tomorrow as well. They wanted me to stay with them for the night, but as much as I would like that, I had to decline the offer.

“Don’t you want to spend more time us?” mum said, giving me a heart-wrenching look.

“I do,” I answered, breaking the eye contact. “But...”

“What? Spit it out, filly.”

I tried to come up with a good way to say that I wanted to spend some quality time with my marefriend, but was drawing a blank. It was kind of weird to do that while your parents were literally behind the wall, but talking about that with them would be ten times worse.

“Well, me and Ruby are marefriends, right?”

Mum nodded, exchanging a confused look with my dad.

“And we won’t have any private time on the road...” I continued, hoping they’d pick up on the implication.

They did.

My dad blushed furiously, unwelcome pictures probably rushing through his mind right now, while my mum had a coughing fit.

“I... see,” she chuckled nervously. “Well, if that’s the case, who are we to stop you? Just promise to be careful on the journey.”

“I promise.”

I gave my parents a tight hug. My mum sniffed, trying to hold back the tears and I nuzzled her, assuring her that I’d be fine.

After having said my goodbyes, I left the apartment and rejoined my friends, who were waiting downstairs. Together we proceeded to a hotel where Rarity had generously booked a room for the night. It was on the top floor of a tall skyscraper, so we had to ride an elevator.

When Rarity opened the door, I realized that it was more than a simple room — it was a whole suite. It was truly luxurious. As I explored the spacious rooms, I wondered how much it had cost even for one night, but I couldn’t just ask Rarity directly...

Ruby didn’t have such qualms.

“Whoa, Rarity, it must have cost a fortune!” she said, rolling on the thick carpet.

“That used to be the case, darling, but the prices have taken a hit recently,” Rarity explained, chuckling at Ruby’s antics. “I got it for a tenth of the real price, though it’s still a lot, I have to admit. But I think we deserve some pampering after all our troubles, don’t you?”

We spent the rest of the day without leaving the suite. I filled the time by chatting with my friends, trying to keep our topics light-spirited. I’d just finished talking with Rarity — we had discussed Manehattan’s sense of fashion — when I noticed Marcus and Ruby having some argument on the other side of the room. Swiveling my ears in their direction, I slowly approached without interrupting the two.

“Are you sure you don’t want to just wait for us here?” I heard Ruby asking. Marcus rolled his eyes.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Ruby,” he said with a wave of his hand. “Just because I’m not a pony, you think I can’t be useful?”

“That’s not—”

“What’s your problem with him going?” I asked directly, having lost my patience.

Both looked at me. Marcus just shrugged in answer, while Ruby lowered her eyes to avoid my heavy stare. She even looked a little ashamed for some reason. It wasn’t like her to behave that way, so my annoyance was immediately replaced with concern.

I beckoned her to the other room to talk privately and she followed me in silence. Sturdy was doing push-ups there, but he left when I asked him to give us some space. I scrunched my muzzle — a strong smell of perspiration still lingered even after the changeling had left — but I forced myself to ignore it.

“So, what’s wrong?” I asked, turning to my marefriend.

Ruby let out a heavy sigh and mumbled something unintelligible under her muzzle. Even with my ears being turned towards her, I couldn’t distinguish any of it.

“What was that?”

“I’m just…jealous, okay?” Ruby repeated more loudly.

I raised my eyebrows quizzically, waiting for her to elaborate. Ruby dug at the floor with her hoof, still holding her gaze down.

“I know you think of him as a friend, but you used to date before, right?” she said. “The way he follows you around all the time… I just don’t like it. I don’t want to be that over-jealous partner in our relationship, but I can’t help it.”

“Oh,” I opened my mouth, thinking of what to say. I chuckled nervously. “You shouldn’t worry, Ruby. We had only one date and besides, Marcus doesn’t like ponies that way. That’s what ended our relationship in the first place.”

Ruby finally looked me in the eyes.

“Oh, you haven’t seen the way he stares at your flank when you’re not looking,” she said, twitching her left ear. “Especially when you move your tail and flash your—”

“I got it!” I interrupted my marefriend, blushing heavily.

“Not that I can blame him for that,” Ruby winked, glancing behind me. “But your flank — and other parts — belong to me.”

I smiled back, but Ruby’s words were echoing in my mind. I considered Marcus to be a good friend, but if he still had some lingering feelings for me, then we had a potential problem on our hooves. However, it could be just a normal male’s reaction to being around creatures who walked around naked most of the time.

The fact that our anatomy resembled that of humans didn’t help the issue.

It had taken me a while myself to stop paying attention to exposed body parts that humans always covered. I learned to simply ignore it most of the time — except when in heat — but humans were basically in heat all the time. Plus, Marcus hadn’t had a girlfriend in months…

I shuddered, imagining how tense he must be feeling right now.

“Well, Marcus is a grown man,” I said out loud. “He knows that we’re in a relationship, so he will deal with it. It’s only you that I love.”

A big grin washed away all the other emotions from Ruby’s face. I briefly wondered why, until I realized what I had just said for the first time.

“Aw, I love you too, Sunny.”

The next moment Ruby tackled me, almost crushing my barrel in a mighty hug. I groaned and struggled to breathe under her heavy body; thankfully, the thick carpet had softened my fall. Ruby eased her grip, making it more bearable, and kissed me on the muzzle. I returned the kiss on her lips.

It lasted a few seconds until Ruby broke away, only to lightly bite me on the neck. I reacted with a delighted nicker. Seeing where this was going, I locked the door with my magic and we spent the following hours showing our love for each other.

I hoped the walls were thick enough.

***

Lady Blade had ordered us to be at the bridge by six in the morning, so we woke up a few hours before that. I hadn’t gotten enough sleep, but having spent the night with Ruby had been worth it. I noticed the mare herself looked fresh, despite having been much more active than me. Those earth ponies...

After a quick a shower and some breakfast, we took a cab to get to the place in time. Thankfully, a lot of them were parked close to the hotel — it must have been a juicy spot with all the tourists who used to stay there. As usual, Rarity paid for our ride.

“How come you always have the money to pay for stuff?” Marcus suddenly asked.

I glanced at Marcus to make sure he wasn’t peeking at my flank and then switched my attention to Rarity. I doubted she’d had any money with her when we had freed her from Tartarus and we hadn’t been to Ponyville, so Rarity couldn’t have gotten it there.

“I’m a successful fashionista, darling,” she smirked. “I have some savings, you know.”

“He was probably wondering where you got the money you have with you now,” I clarified my friend’s question.

Marcus nodded in confirmation. “Yeah, I mean, Princess Celestia gave us some money for the road, but I don’t think it would be enough to afford a suite, even with the prices being so low.”

“No, of course not,” Rarity shook her head. “That’s what the Bank is for, remember? I withdrew some bits from my account on our first visit.”

Marcus and I exchanged a look. Rarity’s answer was obvious in hindsight and we both felt foolish for not having come to that conclusion on our own. Ruby cleared her throat and nuzzled me on my cheek. I glanced at her a little annoyed — surely, she didn’t think I wouldn’t look at my friend just because she was feeling a little jealous?

We spent the rest of the short ride in an uncomfortable silence.

An unorganized crowd of ponies was waiting for us when we arrived at the bridge. There were about a hundred of them so far, with some stragglers joining constantly. I realized that this had to be the army Clipper was sending to Fillydelphia.

So far, the “army” didn’t look impressive. Only a few ponies had some kind of armor protecting them; most of them had nothing at all. They all had different weapons — from old swords and clubs to spears. A few of them even had crossbows. It was just a militia, not an organized army.

We stood apart from the crowd, observing them. Ruby was the first to voice her concern.

“They don’t look like professional soldiers,” she said.

“Far from it,” Sturdy confirmed. “Now I see why Clipper wanted us to go.”

“They look enthusiastic at least,” I tried to defend them, though my heart wasn’t in it.

“Now, dears, let’s not be too hasty,” Rarity intervened. “My friends and I aren’t soldiers either, but we’ve managed to save the world a few times. Clipper said those volunteers had played a big role in saving the city, didn’t he?”

I shrugged. We went silent when Lady Blade arrived with a cart, loaded with rusty suits of armor. She climbed on top to make herself visible and yelled in a surprisingly loud voice.

“Greetings, soldiers!”

Everypony in the crowd looked at her at once, ceasing their conversations. Total silence hung over us.

“As you all know, we’re going to Fillydelphia to help our brothers and sisters there,” she began. Some ponies nodded, but most stayed silent. “I have some good news for you — one of the Element Bearers, Rarity, was sent by the Princesses to help us in our noble goal.” Rarity bowed as the crowd’s attention was brought upon her. Commander Blade continued, raising her voice slightly, “We must not disappoint the Princesses, everypony. I know that it won’t be easy, but we will succeed if we work together. We will make that scum pay for breaking a millennium of peace in our beautiful country. Let’s not waste any more time. For Equestria!”

“For Equestria!” the crowd yelled as one.

After the speech, Blade’s officers began distributing some suits of armor among the ponies, as they divided themselves into smaller units. Each unit got at least a couple of them, but there weren’t enough for everypony.

Making sure the process was going smoothly, Blade approached us.

“I see you’ve come prepared,” Blade commented. “Good.”

Each of us had our own sword and light armor that had proved so useful to us before. Even Rarity owned a set. It was small enough to carry in our saddlebags, which we had previously done in order to avoid unnecessary attention.

“Yeah,” I agreed. “But I see that most of your troops aren’t. No offense.”

Blade frowned and nodded curtly. “I know. The armory was destroyed during the fighting, so we’re short on equipment. But it wasn’t an issue, since the enemy had the same problem.”

I nodded in understanding.

After that, Blade explained what role we would play in her militia. Her force had been split into units of a dozen ponies each, but she told us that we weren’t going to join any of them. She wanted our group to remain as it was and follow her until we got to the city.

“Pick a leader among yourselves; I’ll have a special job for you once we reach Fillydelphia.”

“What kind of job?” I asked.

“A diversion,” the mare said. “Clipper spoke highly of you, so I believe you’ll be able to do it.”

“A diversion?” I repeated, looking at her in surprise.

“Yeah, a diversion,” the commander confirmed. “You sneaked under Tenebris’ nose once and stole something from her, right? So this should be foal’s play to you. I’ll explain my plan in detail later, but I want you to destroy the enemy’s armory if possible. Eliminating the factor of their enchanted armor would greatly improve our chances.”

I mulled over the idea and nodded. If that what was necessary, then I was ready to try. I looked at my friends and they too expressed their agreement, though without much enthusiasm.

After everything was ready, Blade gave the order to move out. The whole force formed a two-pony-wide column, with the supply carts following behind. I glanced at them, but right now I felt strong enough to walk on my own hooves. We weren’t going all that fast anyway — even Marcus was able to keep up.

We’d been ten minutes into the journey, when my human friend suddenly asked, “So, how far is Fillydelphia?”

***

It took us three days to reach the city’s vicinity.

Clipper’s army moved at a quick pace and I was able to keep up most of the time. If I got too tired, I rode on one of the supply carts, but it was happening less and less, as the last consequences of Starlight’s spell were extinguished from my body.

“What’s that?” one of the soldiers suddenly asked, pointing at the black column of smoke appearing far ahead. I squinted my eyes — there seemed to be a village there.

“That’s the reason why we came here,” Lady— no, Commander Blade answered. “Let’s hurry up.”

Her lieutenants relayed the orders and everypony advanced to a trot to reach the source of the smoke faster. It got thicker and thicker as we got closer; the fire must have been getting more powerful. I glanced at Commander Blade — she had a determined expression on her face.

“Be ready for a fight,” she threw at us.

I nodded, though I had been already recalling the combat spells in my mind. If there was an enemy there, I doubted they would stand a chance against our numbers, but it didn’t mean they wouldn’t fight until the bitter end.

Soon, we entered the village. Nopony could be seen on the streets. The smoke was coming from its center and that was where we found the villagers. They had gathered on the square in front of the burning building, making no attempts to extinguish the fire.

At first, I was puzzled by their passivity, but then I saw the reason.

The crowd parted, revealing a group of about two dozen armored ponies coming in our direction. Half of them were wearing the infamous enchanted armor, while the rest were wearing a simpler one.

I prepared my horn to unleash my magic.

“And who are you clowns?” their leader asked, drawing his sword in one swift motion. “You’d better get away from here before we cut you down.”

The pony’s confident attitude surprised me — our force outnumbered his five to one, but he was acting like it was the other way around. When I looked at his companions, however, I noticed how they were shifting from leg to leg and exchanging glances.

“We’re a militia, here on behalf of the princesses,” Blade stated firmly. “And you are?”

“There are no more princesses, you fool,” her opponent sneered. “They’ve been killed, as well as their six errand girls. The true queen Tenebris assumed the throne weeks ago.”

My stomach dropped into my hooves, even though I knew it was a blatant lie. Rarity – one of said “errand girls” – was standing by my side at this very moment. But this pony was claiming this with such conviction that it was likely he believed it himself…

“Don’t be ridiculous, darling,” Rarity said, stepping forward. She gave the pony a murderous stare. “I am Rarity and I am quite alive. As are the rest of my friends, let me assure you.”

I couldn’t see the pony’s expression, but he was silent for at least ten seconds. His pals murmured behind his back.

“You’re not Rarity,” the leader finally shook his head, as if trying to deny my friend’s very existence. “You don’t even look like her!”

Rarity narrowed her eyes. “You’re making a fool out of yourself, dear.”

One of the enemy soldiers took off his helmet and approached his boss. The pony was clearly agitated and there was mix of fear and anger on his face. The boss turned his head to the soldier, swiping his tail across his armored flank.

“It is Rarity,” the soldier said firmly and threw his helmet onto the ground. “I saw her once and she’s pretty hard to forget.”

“So what?” the boss growled. “Get back in line and let’s finish those peasants!”

“No! I’m tired of you and your bloodthirstiness! I only liste—” the pony’s tirade was interrupted by a sword taking his head clean off.

I gasped, seeing the head rolling on the ground. The killer lowered his sword, blood dropping from it, and looked at the headless body that was still standing. The next moment, the body fell on its knees and remained that way.

Everypony was totally silent. The villagers, our militia and even the rest of the enemies were all looking at the killer in shock. Ruby took a step forward, but Blade blocked her way with her hoof. She shook her head in answer to Ruby’s questioning glance.

“What are you waiting for? Kill those peasants!” the enemy boss pointed his bloody sword at us. I flickered one of my ears nervously, glancing at its sharp tip. It seemed to be aimed straight at my heart.

The soldiers weren’t rushing to do their boss’ bidding, however. A few of them even made a couple of steps back, lowering their weapons.

“You’re damn cowards…” the pony sighed.

Having said that, he suddenly dashed right at Rarity, who was standing closest to him. It took the stallion mere seconds to reach her, while nopony had any time to react.

Nopony but me.

I had a spell ready at the tip of my horn and I cast it on reflex as soon as he began to move.

A protection bubble sprung to life around my friends and me. The attacker crushed into it, making me grunt with a strain — the shield barely held against the force of the collision. His enchanted armor sucking up my magic made holding the shield all the harder.

The attacker took a step back without realizing how close he was to breaking through. With his mad charge having failed, he seemed to be at a loss as what to do next.

“Lower the shield, Sundae,” Blade ordered and I did it without hesitation, since I was about to lose control of it anyway.

Blade jumped at her opponent the moment it dissipated. The pony barely deflected her first attack, but the next followed right behind and he missed a hard blow to his head. His helmet had saved him from death, but he got distracted enough to miss another hit to his legs.

The force was enough to drop the stallion onto the ground. Blade punched his sword out of his grip and stomped on his head, denting the helmet with her hoof. It hadn’t knocked him out, but Blade was done anyway.

“Restrain him,” she said, and a couple of our ponies rushed to execute the order.

Seeing their leader defeated, the others lost whatever will to fight they still had. One by one, they dropped their weapons onto the ground and began to take off the armor.

“We surrender,” one of them announced.

As if awoken from a slumber, the crowd of villagers advanced towards the enemy group, rumbling menacingly. The panicked ponies galloped into our direction and Blade interposed a few dozen of her soldiers between them and the angry mob.

The prisoners were quickly secured and escorted behind our lines, saved from the villagers’ rage that they’d probably deserved.

“Thank you for your help,” one of the villagers said. “Those bastards wanted our food and when we refused, they set our Town Hall on fire.”

The pony looked at the burning building and sighed. Even I could see that it was beyond saving now. The fire had fully spread along its walls and the roof had fallen under its weight.

Together we did what we could and put out the fire, but a blackened carcass was all that was left from the Hall in the end. I comforted myself with the thought that at least the fire hadn’t spread to its neighbors.

“Not everypony was able to make it out after the fire had started,” the villager said grimly, observing the ruins. “I hope you’ll make those bastards pay.”

***

I was setting up my tent — Commander Blade had ordered us to set up camp just outside the village. An hour had passed, but the villager’s words were still rolling around in my head. I knew that most of those who had joined Tenebris hadn’t done so of their own accord, but it didn’t make them any less responsible for the crimes they were committing.

There would be a lot of hard feelings and grudges even after the war was over...

“You’ve saved my life, Sundae,” somepony said, distracting me from my heavy thoughts.

I turned around and saw Rarity, who looked at me seriously.

“Yeah, I did,” I admitted.

“Thank you!” The mare gripped me in a hug with a strength I hadn’t expected from somepony like her.

“Well, that’s what friends do…” I said, patting her on the back.

“It was absolutely terrifying!” Rarity exclaimed. “Can you imagine?!”

“Well, yes,” Ruby threw in, observing our hug with a frown. “She almost died just a week ago, remember? And we had a few close calls before that too.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, darling,” Rarity said, finally releasing me. “I seem to forget how the times have changed. Equestria is much more dangerous than it used to be.”

“I know,” I sighed. “The monster attacks, disasters — I was shocked to learn all that had happened while I was gone. And now this war...”

Too bad the Doctor wouldn’t get what he deserved. Having observed the consequences of his actions with my own eyes, I began to wonder if Celestia had been too hasty to punish him with just banishment from Equestria, rather than something more severe. Though we had saved our friends with his information...

But it wasn’t like he had given it willingly. I was sure that if Tenebris hadn’t wrestled the Doctor’s organization out of his hooves, he would be celebrating his success right now. He had admitted that fact himself in our last conversation.

When I was done with my tent, I excused myself and went to look for Commander Blade. I quickly found her blue tent among the sea of gray ones and saw her talking with one of her lieutenants. After the lieutenant had left, I approached her to ask my own question.

“So, what do you plan to do with the prisoners?”

“Just cut their heads off,” she said coldly.

I flattened my ears and opened my mouth to offer an objection, but noticed a grin blossoming on her face.

“Nah, I’m not that ruthless. They’ll be kept here under guard until we finish our job in the city,” Blade explained. “Then I’ll hand them over to some authority.”

I nodded in agreement; it was the most reasonable thing to do.

“Anyway, it’s good that you’re here,” Blade said and looked me in the eyes. “Remember what I wanted you and your friends to do? Well, now is the time.”

Blade went inside her tent and returned a minute later with a bunch of city maps. She told me what she knew of the enemy forces in Fillydelphia, as well as our allies, and I listened, trying to remember as much as possible.

Our friends in the city knew about us — Clipper’s representatives had warned them we were coming. As Blade had briefed me, the city was split between loyalists and Tenebris’ supporters. Their forces were evenly matched, so our arrival was supposed to tip the scale in the loyalists’ favor.

“I could just march in there and engage the enemy, but I don’t think it would be wise,” Blade explained. “Even if taken by surprise, they would inflict serious losses on our army. That’s why your task is so important.”

Unfortunately, the commander didn’t know where the enemy was keeping their equipment or if they had a centralized place for it at all, but that was our job to find out.

“I’ll be awaiting your return tomorrow. The sooner we free Fillydelphia, the better it’ll be for Manehattan.”

“Sure,” I accepted the order. I knew that the schedule would be tight and I was ready to do my best. No doubt my friends would think the same.

“Don’t take the human with you, though,” Blade said as I was about to leave. “He wouldn’t be very inconspicuous.”

I nodded and went back to my friends to share the news. I found them exactly where I’d left them — they’d managed to set up their own tents while I’d been gone. Too bad we wouldn’t be able to use them tonight. They were sitting together and were having some snacks.

“Did you find Blade?” Ruby asked.

“Of course,” I said, settling close to her and grabbing a roasted hay-straw from her plate.

As I was chewing, I quickly repeated what Blade had told me about our mission.

“Do we have to go right now?” Marcus complained. “I just ate.”

He showed me a piece of bread and then threw it into his mouth.

“Don’t worry, you’re not going.”

“What? Why?”

“Well, Blade thinks you’ll be too conspicuous,” I explained. “And she’s kind of right.”

Marcus shook his head in dismay.

“I see how it may be an issue, I guess...”

“Cheer up, Marcus,” Sturdy slightly punched him in the shoulder. “At least you get to sleep tonight.”

Marcus only grunted in response.

***

Fillydelphia was unlike Manehattan in many ways. Both cities had a large pony population, but while Manehattan had buildings as tall as its skyscrapers, the tallest building I’d seen in Fillydelphia had no more than three floors.

Right now, there weren’t a lot of ponies going about their business on the streets. The ones who were carefully observed their surroundings, as if expecting an attack at any second. I could definitely understand their concern.

Plenty of buildings we passed had some signs of damage on their exterior. Some had even been burned down, with only blackened ruins left in their place. Most of the stores had their windows boarded up. Seeing how grim the situation looked, I started appreciating Clipper’s work in Manehattan more and more.

“I knew the fighting had been bad, but I couldn’t imagine it would have been this bad,” Rarity murmured.

“The fighting still continues,” Ruby corrected her. “That’s why we’re here.”

I nodded absentmindedly, while examining the city map I was holding before my eyes. It had parts colored with red and blue to point out our enemies and allies respectively. I didn’t know if it was up to date, but it was the best information Blade had.

Each side had a main base of operations and dozens of outposts all over the city. In the weeks of fighting, they had been passing from one hoof to another almost every day, but neither side was strong enough to attack the main base with any hope of winning without crippling loses.

It was about to change with our arrival.

“What’s wrong, Sunny?” Ruby asked after I spent a whole minute just staring at the map.

I sighed. The truth was that I’d gotten lost. I couldn’t see any street name signs to compare our position to the map and I wasn’t good with maps to begin with. That was one of the reasons I preferred to live in a small town.

“Don’t worry, darling, we can ask for directions.”

Having said that, Rarity approached a couple of ponies in turn, but nopony was in the mood to answer. The most she got out of them was an annoyed stare, as they quickened their pace.

“They don’t look too friendly,” Rarity said after her attempts had failed.

“We can find the place on our own, let’s go,” said Ruby, grabbing the map in her mouth and trotting in a seemingly random direction.

I shrugged and followed her.

The place we were looking for was the loyalist base. It had been set up in the city’s Town Hall, which looked easy to reach on the map. Unfortunately, it didn’t account for the damage done to the city. Having to go around zones controlled by the enemy only made finding it harder.

Suddenly, we saw a group of soldiers led by a black-armored pony. I looked at them startled — it was supposed to be the friendly part of the city! The ponies on the street had ignored the patrol and we pretended to do the same in the hopes of passing by unnoticed.

The soldiers weren’t paying much attention to the citizens. However, something in our behavior must have gotten their attention because one of them looked in our direction and beckoned us with his hoof.

I exchanged a worried glance with my friends. We had our weapons and armor tucked into our saddlebags, but if the fight were to start now, we wouldn’t have any time to put them on.

“Act casual,” I whispered to my friends.

I smiled as we approached the group. The soldier took off his helmet and gave me a stern glance, not at all distracted by it.

“What’s wrong, sir?” I asked in the most innocent voice I could muster.

“I don’t know, filly,” he said. “You tell me.”

I noticed Ruby shifting slightly, getting ready to pounce at the first sign of trouble. I tensed up too, but still kept up the innocent façade. If they hadn’t attacked yet, there was a chance of resolving the situation peacefully.

“I don’t know, sir,” I lowered my eyes. “My friends and I were just going—”

“Exactly,” the soldier interrupted me. “Didn’t you hear about the new rule? Citizens are forbidden from walking in groups of more than two, otherwise you’d be considered the enemy’s supporters.”

I drooped my ears, cursing on the inside. I had no idea such a rule existed. However, the stallion didn’t appear to be in a hurry to arrest us or something. I realized that he must be expecting a bribe.

“Terribly sorry, darling, but we had no idea,” Rarity said, flapping her eyelashes. “There must be something we can do to remedy this mishap!”

“Well, I’m a reasonable pony,” the soldier grinned. “A hundred bits in cash and I’ve never seen you.”

Ruby gasped at hearing such an outrageous sum, but Rarity simply reached into her purse and passed the required number of bits to the pony. He raised his eyebrows in momentary surprise, but then nodded, accepting the money. I briefly wondered why he had demanded more than we could possibly have, until I realized his true motives.

The large sum was simply a way to indebt us to demand something else in return. Like having his pals spend a good night with three mares...

But since the soldier had gotten the bribe he’d asked for, he had enough honor to keep his word. The stallion waved his hoof in dismissal and continued on his patrol without saying another word. The others followed him.

“We should have taken them out,” Ruby grumbled unhappily.

“Don’t be silly, dear,” Rarity said. “It would have been suicide.”

Ruby frowned. “Probably. I just really didn’t like the way he was looking at us.”

“Me neither,” I cringed, recalling the soldier’s friend’s ogling gaze.

“Me three,” added Rarity.

“Nopony paid an ounce of attention to me,” Sturdy suddenly complained. “I should just turn into a mare...”

***

The rest of the way went smoothly. We met a few more patrols but, having learned our lesson, we moved in pairs on opposite sides of the street. Soon we got into the part of the city controlled by the loyalists, at least according to the map.

I saw a trio of ponies whom I recognized as our allies. Their gray armor was the same type as what half of our enemies wore, but they had put a yellow band on their forelegs to avoid confusion. It looked like their equipment situation was much better than ours, if they could afford to give a set to every patrol pony.

“Hello, guys,” the mare in front of us greeted us, when she noticed me staring. “My name is Magni. Would you like to join the resistance?”

“We already have, darling,” Rarity told her.

The mare bestowed a confused glance upon her and I explained, “We’ve come from Manehattan with reinforcements. Take us to your leader, please.”

The mare chuckled.

“Hah, nice one,” she said with a humorless smile. “Reinforcements... Anyway, I don’t have time for jokes.”

“No, we’re very serious,” I assured her. “Your leader is supposed to know we’re coming, so please take us to him.”

“Her,” Magni corrected me. “And fine, I’ll do it. But if it’s some kind of prank, you’ll regret it, got it?”

I nodded curtly.

She and her friends quickly escorted our group to their base. The road leading to the Town Hall had been barricaded by loads of broken furniture, rocks and what-have-you. A couple of guards were walking on top of it, looking for any potential intruders.

They opened a makeshift gate for Magni and we walked through it to the square in front of the Hall. The whole square was just bursting with activity. Some ponies were training, some eating and some were just trying to relax.

The mare dismissed her companions and led us straight to the Town Hall building.

Most of its windows were broken and the walls were covered in black stains, likely from spell discharges. The massive front door, however, appeared to be mostly intact. Magni opened it and led us inside.

“It’s not too late to admit you’re joking,” she said, turning to look at us. “We’ll have a good laugh and then you can just leave.”

“It’s not a joke, dear,” Rarity answered for all of us. “Please, proceed.”

The office was upstairs, but the leader of the resistance wasn’t there. Magni asked around and learned that she was away on some urgent business, but had promised to return soon.

And so we waited.

“Oh my gosh, it’s Daring Do!” Rarity suddenly exclaimed.

I looked in the direction of her stare — a confused brown mare stood at the end of the corridor. I recognized my old friend immediately and gave her a smile. She smiled back and waved in return.

Ruby was much more enthusiastic. She galloped towards her friend and embraced her in a hug. I could see Daring’s face twist, as the air was squeezed out of her, but she returned the favor.

Magni watched the scene with a half-opened mouth.

I gave Daring a hug when she approached, though it was more gentle. Rarity, having composed herself after her outburst, exchanged greetings with Daring Do as well.

“So what are you doing here, Ro—Daring?” Ruby asked. “I thought you were supposed to get back to us.”

Daring Do looked away, drooping her ears. “Well, I was going to. But Fillydelphia is my home city and when I learned what was about to happen, I flew here as fast as I could.”

“And arrived just in time, ma’am,” the Magni added.

“Thanks.”

“Anyway, what are you all doing here?” Daring Do asked and as soon as she did her eyes flung wide open. “Wait, did you come with reinforcements from Manehattan?”

“We did, dear,” Rarity smiled. “We need to meet with the loyalist’s leader to discuss something important. Surely, you must know where she is?”

Daring Do snorted. “Of course I do. That’s me!”

***

“...So that’s how I ended up like that,” Daring finished her quick story and leaned back on her chair.

“Really impressive,” I said, digesting her story.

Daring Do had gotten to the city when the local guard had been overwhelmed. However, she had managed to find and organize the survivors into striking back. Some brave citizens had joined her cause in the following days, but it still hadn’t been enough to completely break the enemy.

“We had some adventures too, but I’ll tell you later,” I said, ignoring a pout on Ruby’s face. “Right now, we have more important things to discuss.”

Ruby’s expression turned serious.

“Right. Blade, the commander of our forces, sent us here to create a diversion,” Ruby cut straight to the chase. “She wants us to destroy the enemy’s armory. The thing is, our army is poorly equipped and this would even out the chances.”

Daring Do nodded and scratched her chin.

“Yes, it sounds logical,” she said. “But I’m afraid it won’t work.”

“What? Why?”

“Well, their soldiers keep their equipment with themselves,” Daring Do explained. “They don’t store it in some centralized locations, so there is simply nothing to destroy.”

I flickered my ear, but otherwise accepted the news calmly.

“Well, then we’d better go and tell that to Commander Blade.”

A calculating expression appeared on Daring Do’s face. She stood up and approached a board where the city map was spread out. The mare pointed her hoof at one of the flags that was sticking into the map.

“This is their base,” she said. “Most of their forces are concentrated there. It’s well-defended and we can’t take it by storm without risking a counterattack. But with your commander’s forces, we can probably do that, depending on how many you have.”

“Well, about a hundred, but as I told you — the equipment is the issue.”

Daring Do nodded, staring at the map in concentration. I didn’t like her plan, to be honest. It was just a direct attack — I’d been expecting more elaborate plans from somepony of Daring Do’s caliber. I was about to carefully express my concern, but Ruby was faster.

“This is a bad plan,” she said, waving her hoof dismissively.

“Well, I’m no tactical genius,” Daring Do countered, with an obvious offense heard in her voice. “I see no other way. I tried to set up some ambushes and traps, but they’re very careful. And most of the citizens just want to stay out of the conflict, I’m afraid, so we’ve been getting little help from them.”

“That sounds rather depressing, dear,” Rarity said, patting the pegasus on the back. “But I assure you, the enemy soldiers are even less happy with the fighting. Most of them would surrender, given the chance.”

Having said that, Rarity explained what had happened in the village earlier today. Daring Do listened carefully, her face lightening up.

“I think I know how to—” Daring Do began excitedly, but then her face fell again. “No, forget about it. It wouldn’t work.”

I hated it when somepony did that — piquing your curiosity and then refusing to explain. My friends and I besieged the mare, until she finally spilled the beans.

“Well, I thought that if we got all of them to one place and then Rarity made a grand appearance, they’d turn against each other. With your reinforcements, we’d also be able to make sure they wouldn’t escape if they refused to surrender,” Daring Do explained and sighed. “But I have no idea how to draw them out of their base...”

“I like that idea much more than your previous one!” Ruby said, stomping her hoof on the floor.

Daring Do nodded with a little smile, but then it disappeared.

“Yeah, I like it too. Too bad we have no way of doing it.”

I drooped my ears. The plan definitely had some potential for success. Unfortunately, I also saw no way to make it happen. I looked around, hoping that my friends had better luck, when Sturdy stepped forward.

“I can do it,” he simply said.

Everypony – including me – stared at him in confusion. Then it dawned on me.

Sturdy looked at me and raised his eyebrow in question. I gave him a nod and a moment later a green flash brightened the room, as he returned to his true form.

“Whoa!” Daring exclaimed, taken totally by surprise. Before I’d realized what she was doing, she had grabbed a knife out of nowhere and thrown it at Sturdy.

I managed to intercept it with my magic inches from Sturdy’s head. My heart was pumping like crazy from the adrenaline — my friend had almost gotten killed! Sturdy was frozen still, gazing at the blade before his eyes.

“What in Tartarus are you doing, Rose?!” Ruby yelped, jumping onto the mare and tackling her to the ground. They struggled there for a few seconds, until Daring came out on top, wringing Ruby’s foreleg.

Everypony else watched the two mares without intervening.

“I think this could have gone better,” Rarity said, breaking the trance.

“You don’t say,” I answered, shaking my head in disbelief. “Okay, girls, calm down, please.”

When they didn’t listen, I furrowed my eyebrows and grabbed both Ruby and Daring Do in my magic. I lifted them above the floor and gave them a little shake. Then I put them down close to each other, briefly noticing how effortlessly I had done that.

“Sturdy here is our friend, Daring Do, so please don’t throw knives at him, for Celestia’s sake,” I said, barely keeping my voice from shaking. “I told you about him in Ponyville, remember?”

Ruby glared at her friend as if expecting her to do something crazy again, but the pegasus had calmed down. Daring Do gave me a small nod and then switched her stare to the changeling.

“I’d never seen a friendly changeling,” she said carefully. “I apologize for my hasty reaction. It was just a reflex.”

“Yeah, it’s fine, I guess,” Sturdy answered, flickering his eyes at the knife still hovering before him.

I hastily put it down.

“You were saying something,” I encouraged him

“Well, sure...” Sturdy shrugged. “I wanted to say that I can impersonate the enemy leader and just order everypony to move into the position we want.”

Daring’s eyes lit up.

“This could work,” she said. “This could actually work! But first, we need to prepare the ambush and coordinate everything with Commander Blade. I would prefer the reinforcements to be a surprise.”

I nodded.

“Then we’d better get back and inform her,” I said.

“Don’t bother, I’ll fly to her myself tonight,” Daring Do assured me. “There are things I want to discuss with her personally. But right now, I need to gather my officers and come up with the best way to implement this plan.”

Having said that, Daring Do flew out of her office. While she was away, I was mulling over Sturdy’s plan. As much as I trusted the changeling, I didn’t have much faith in his impersonating abilities. I remembered how quickly we had cracked him when he’d been pretending to be Fluttershy.

It was a flaw in the plan, but otherwise it was great. It was our best chance to end the fighting quickly, without suffering heavy losses in the process.

***

The next morning, we gathered in an alley bordering the rebel’s territory. The pony we’d met before, Magni, was here with us, leading a squad of twenty loyalists. Together, we were planning to capture the enemy general.

“Remember, everypony, we need to finish it all quickly,” Magni said. “Before their reinforcements arrive.”

The ponies nodded in agreement.

With her signal, we all went onto the main street and galloped towards the targeted outpost as fast as we could. A small patrol noticed us from the other end of the street and ran off to warn their friends, but we were right on their heels.

Magni raised her hoof, stopping us right before we took the next turn.

“Their outpost is just around the corner,” she explained. “But they have a powerful unicorn there who can shoot you with a spell, despite the distance.”

“Like a sniper then,” I muttered. Magni shrugged noncommittally and continued.

“So when we attack an outpost, they usually barricade inside and try to hold out until the reinforcements arrive. We need to break the resistance before that happens, because if they get to us in the middle of the fight, it would be bad.”

I nodded, following her line of thought so far.

“There’s no guarantee the enemy general is there, of course,” Magni continued. “But we will assume the information is correct. I have no idea what she looks like, so try to capture as many of them as you can alive.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Okay, now let’s go!”

Having said that, she and her comrades rushed forward from around the corner, with our group following right behind. A powerful beam shot near us, hitting the road. For a moment I gaped at a small crater caused by the beam — this unicorn of theirs was truly ferocious.

I raised a shield in front of me and charged straight at the building ahead. Seeing me as an easy target, the unicorn shot a few more spells at me, which were deflected by my shield. A grin flickered on my face. My shield spell was getting better and better!

“Aaarh,” a scream of agony sounded from my right as one of our soldiers had been hit. The sniper must have realized the futility in trying to hit me and targeted the less protected loyalists. I didn’t look back to see if the pony had survived — the time for that would be after the battle.

When we got close to the outpost building, which had likely been a grocery store a month ago, its door opened and the rebels began pouring out, led by an earth pony mare. Since I was the closest one to her, she dashed straight at me.

While the others around me were engaging their own opponents, I concentrated on handling this mare. Holding my sword in a telekinetic grip, I slashed it at the rapidly approaching earth pony from a distance. I only realized my mistake when it was too late.

The mare had taken a hit at her foreleg armor. I attempted to hit her again, but the armor enchantments weakened my grip of the sword and it simply dropped to the ground. Without giving me any time to recover, she got close and I barely managed to jump back, her sword cutting a piece of my mane.

I reared up, kicking the weapon out of her grip, but she used her other hoof to punch me in my exposed belly. I fell back on all fours, gasping to take a breath. Another punch landed on my shoulder and then another hit my chin.

Stars flew before my vision as I fell on my haunches, covering my head from any more attacks.

When none came, I slowly opened my eyes to see what had happened. At first, I thought I’d been hit hard enough to scramble my brain, but then I realized it was no mere hallucination, however crazy it may have looked.

Rarity was beating down my opponent.

She didn’t even use her weapon while she rained down a flurry of hoof punches on the poor mare. Even with the advantages of her armor, she could barely offer any resistance. The rebel swung her hoof, but Rarity easily avoided it and then suddenly jumped, kicking the mare’s helmet with both of her hind hooves.

It flew off, splashing droplets of blood everywhere.

She stood no chance against Rarity’s fury. In another crazy jump, Rarity flung behind her and made her trip over. The mare fell on her side with a thump and Rarity quickly landed on top, adding a heavy punch to her head in the process. Her opponent wasn’t moving anymore.

I gazed at Rarity in silent shock. Sure, I’d briefly seen her fight in the warehouse in Manehattan, but now I’d seen her in action first-hoof.

“Whoa, Rarity, remind me not to get on your bad side,” I mumbled, invoking a smile from the unicorn.

Rarity corrected her slightly disheveled mane and switched to another opponent, who was attacking one of our own. Despite my headache, I helped her to bring the attacker down. Soon, the last of the enemies were lying on the ground in defeat, and I looked over the street to estimate our own casualties.

First, I checked my friends, who all appeared to be fine. Rarity was panting heavily and I could see a few small cuts, obvious on her white coat, but otherwise she was as fabulous as ever. However, not all of our allies had fared so well — three of them were dead and two were seriously wounded.

“A true lady knows how to protect herself,” Rarity said absentmindedly, as she looked down on the unconscious mare. “She definitely looks familiar...”

Ruby approached to stare at her bruised face directly. “By Celestia’s wet tail, it’s Chief Iron Cuffs!”

Magni joined us, while the rest of the squad was helping the wounded — ours and the enemies’ alike. She herself had a couple of scratches on her armor, though nothing serious.

“Iron Cuffs, you say? According to our contact, the rebel’s general is named Iron Cuffs. Do you think it’s her?”

I nodded confidently.

“I’m sure of it,” I stated. “She used to be a police chief in Manehattan before the rebellion. She was arrested, but escaped and, as I can see, ended up in charge of those bastards in Fillydelphia.”

“Well then, grab her and let’s go inside, so your friend here can do his thing,” Magni whispered and pointed at the changeling with her eyes.

I did as Magni had ordered. Lifting Cuffs in my magic, I carried her into the outpost we’d just taken, and put her on the store counter that had still remained there. The mare groaned, blinking her eyes open. We looked at her intently, as she slowly focused her gaze on us.

“Hah, it’s you,” Cuffs said, narrowing her eyes. “I have you to thank for ruining my career and everything else.”

“You’re welcome,” Ruby bowed to her mockingly, invoking an angry growl from the mare.

I smirked. It was extremely satisfying to watch the ex-chief lying powerlessly on the counter before me. I had no idea she had run to Fillydelphia and was the infamous enemy general, but I was pleased by this turn of events.

“You got me, congratulations,” Cuffs said and attempted to clap her hooves, but I forced them back down. “And I thought I’d been careful...”

“All we had to do was to offer one of your lieutenants a nice sum of bits, while promising a full pardon, darling,” Rarity smirked.

“Who is that traitor?” Cuffs frowned, but then forced herself to relax. “It doesn’t matter. My successor will be more careful and believe me, he’s much more ruthless than I am. You were lucky to have me in charge.”

“Oh, you still are in charge,” I grinned and waved my hoof to the changeling. “Do you thing, Sturdy.”

Sturdy nodded and approached Cuffs. He examined her face closely and even sniffed her while she watched him in concern. Then in a flash of green light, he turned into her exact copy. Even her armor was present on him.

“Impressive,” I said, coming closer and tapping it. I heard a metal sound. “Is the armor real?”

The ex-chief made some incomprehensible sounds, but I ignored her.

“It’s an elaborate illusion, but it’s quite strong,” Sturdy explained to me. “Though not nearly as strong as the real thing.”

I nodded, wondering what complicated magic was involved here to achieve such a result. The changelings truly had to be the masters of illusion to accomplish it. It would have taken a unicorn years of study to be able to do something similar.

“What?!” Cuffs finally exclaimed, staring at her doppelganger in fright. “You’ve got a changeling on your side!”

I smiled smugly.

“Yep. You chose the wrong side, whorse.”

***

Our group was approaching the enemy stronghold. To the outside, we looked like “General Cuffs” accompanied by two of her bodyguards, but in reality it was just Sturdy, Ruby and me.

We didn’t possess any shapeshifting abilities, so we had to use old school methods of disguise, like wearing the enemy’s enchanted armor with helmets that covered our faces. However, I doubted the rebels would recognize any of us except for Rarity, but she wasn’t by our side this time.

She had a no less important task to accomplish.

“Don’t say a thing,” I warned my friend one more time. “Sturdy will do the talking, got it?”

She grunted affirmatively. To be honest, I had serious doubts in Sturdy’s ability to improvise, but hopefully everything would go according to the plan, so he wouldn’t have to. It was a rather faint hope.

The tower where the rebels had set up their base was about five floors tall, being the tallest construction I had seen in Fillydelphia. It was built out of large chunks of rocks, smoothed over by centuries of exposure. I’d remembered what it was even before seeing the sign over its heavy gates — The Fillydelphia Royal Museum. I’d visited it a few times in my study years.

“Cuffs” took off her helmet when we approached the gates. The two guards standing there saluted her upon recognizing her and allowed us to pass unchallenged.

We stepped onto the big foyer, trying to look confident. A big skeleton of a mammoth stood in the middle of the hall, greeting newcomers. My inner archaeologist went into shock when I noticed a few ponies having a snack right on the skeleton’s back, but I forced myself to ignore that sacrilege.

I would wipe the floor with those fools at any other time, but all I could do now was drill holes in them with my stares. And they couldn’t even see that behind my helmet...

Sturdy trotted past the exhibit. The two barbarians on top of it got quiet and followed their boss with their eyes. I guessed they were afraid of Iron Cuffs. It would be to our advantage if that also applied to the rest of them — the fewer questions we got, the better.

I followed “Cuffs”, as “she” climbed the stairs. After a quick interrogation of the general’s real bodyguards at the outpost, we had learned that her office was on the top floor, so that was where we were headed. A few ponies we met gave their general a salute, which Sturdy simply ignored. So far, the ponies were considering such a behavior to be completely normal.

The office was exactly where we were told it would be. “Cuffs” walked in and froze. When I got around him to see the reason, I saw a large unicorn stallion sitting behind a massive table. He stared at “Cuffs” with big eyes, clearly surprised to see her.

“General,” he said, quickly recovering his posture. “I thought you were going to spend the night out there.”

He stood up and approached us to stand face-to-face with “Cuffs”. I realized that the stallion had probably been using the general’s office without her permission while she’d been away.

“I thought so too,” Sturdy shrugged nonchalantly. “But we were attacked. The outpost has been lost.”

“What?!” Roofer — and that was him based on his description — recoiled in shock.

“Yeah, but that’s not the real issue here. I’ve also learned some bad news from captured loyalists,” Sturdy explained, sounding strangely relaxed. “They are gathering in the Central Square for a massive attack. They want to lay siege to our base and starve us out.”

I cringed from behind my helmet. The bit about captured loyalists was pure improvisation from the changeling, and it was a bad one at that. How would we have taken prisoners if we’d lost the fight? Thankfully, the unicorn didn’t question it.

Roofer smirked instead. “And you’re worried about that? Come on, those undisciplined fools don’t have enough ponypower to do that. Let them come, I say.”

“Cuffs” fell silent. I glanced at “her”, my mind racing.

“They’ve got reinforcements coming!” I blurted out. The stallion slowly turned his head and looked at me. “We need to attack them before they un—”

I was interrupted by a hit to my forehead. My helmet rang, but I was more annoyed than hurt.

“Don’t you dare interrupt us, kid,” Roofer said. “We have some discipline here, in case you forgot.”

I clenched my jaw, holding back the desire to punch him back. He ignored my inner struggle.

“She was wrong to interrupt, but she was telling the truth,” Sturdy said. “Their main force is vulnerable outside of their base’s protection. And as you said, our ponies have more discipline. If we attack immediately, we can win before their reinforcements arrive.”

The stallion looked thoughtful.

“It makes sense,” he said. “But why wouldn’t they wait for reinforcements first, and then march at us together?”

Sturdy shrugged. “We can ask that question after our victory.”

“Fine. But where did they get the reinforcements from in the first place?”

I was getting tired of Roofer’s endless questions. I glared at him looking for any signs of suspicion, but saw only genuine curiosity.

“From Manehattan,” Sturdy answered his question.

Hearing this, Roofer stomped his hoof in rage, furrowing his eyebrows.

“Damn it, Cuffs!” he yelled in her face. “It’s your fault. If you hadn’t failed your task...”

“Don’t you yell at me, boy!” Sturdy suddenly yelled back. “It’s not your place to judge me, when you have this scum running free in this very city.”

The stallion calmed down as quickly as he’d gotten mad. “Fair enough, I guess. Fine,” he nodded, “No point in pointing hooves for now. What do you want me to do?”

“Gather everypony downstairs and we’ll march right away. I’ll send the messages to our outposts to order the troops to abandon them and join us near the Square.”

The second-in-command nodded and left in haste. As soon as he did, I let out a sigh of relief. The meeting had been so intense, but it looked like we had done it! Sturdy had done it!

“Whoa, he bought it,” Sturdy said, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Don’t you dare to sound so surprised,” Ruby chided him. “We’re risking our lives here and you weren’t even sure it would work?”

I chuckled nervously at “Cuffs’” guilty expression.

It wasn’t over yet, however.

After quickly discussing the next stage of our plan, we went downstairs with no further delay. Obviously, we weren’t actually planning on sending any messengers to the outposts — it would be insane.

I gulped nervously, as I saw a crowd in the foyer.

About half of them were wearing the enchanted armor, while the other half were wearing either a simple one or none at all. If my estimates were correct, there were close to two hundred here, and only more ponies were joining them from upstairs. The hall was already barely able to contain them.

While it wasn’t much compared to the city’s population, it was still a sizable force and it didn’t even account for dozens of outposts, each having about a dozen or so soldiers. I shuddered when I imagined what would have happened to our reinforcements if we’d tried to meet the enemy head on.

Hopefully, Daring Do’s loyalists and our own together had the strength to match them.

“Do you want to address the troops?” Roofer asked, noticing her from downstairs.

“No, thanks,” Sturdy rejected the offer, but then heard my angry hiss. “I mean, of course I do. Troops, at attention!”

I flattened my ears to preserve my hearing. It was a surprisingly loud exclamation! All the chatter in the hall ceased immediately and everypony turned their heads towards the source of the noise. “Cuffs” slowly eyed the soldiers.

“There’s going to be a battle, everypony,” she said. “It won’t be easy, but under my leadership, we’re going to win! Let’s move out.”

Unenthusiastic cheers sounded from the crowd, as the ponies exchanged looks of confusion. Roofer just shrugged, apparently unsurprised at “Cuffs’” less than motivational speech.

Together, we got out onto the streets, where the unit commanders were already shaping the crowd into an organized force. In a few minutes, they had lined up everypony into units of a dozen each, and approached the “general”. They were probably hoping to hear a briefing on “her” plan, since they only had only gotten a momentary notice about the upcoming battle.

“So, what’s our move, general?” one of the commanders asked.

I glanced at the “general”. Sturdy had an unreadable expression. I hoped he knew what to say to avoid suspicion, while not causing any trouble to our own allies.

“Well…The enemy is gathering at the Central Square,” Sturdy began. “We need to attack them before their reinforcements arrive.”

“Reinforcements?”

Sturdy nodded and explained the recent events to the commanders. “So that’s why it’s important for us to move fast.”

“It’s a bad idea to launch a frontal attack,” Roofer intervened; the others nodded in support. “You, Pansy,—” he pointed at one of the commanders “—Take Flower and Bristle here and go around the Square. I want you to attack them in the back.”

I cursed silently. That order would complicate things for our friends, but I couldn’t protest.

“Good idea,” Sturdy said and then chuckled nervously. “Well, now everything is in order, so let’s go.”

Everypony went back to their units and the whole force moved. Our group, along with Roofer himself, were walking behind the lines. I followed a few pegasi with my eyes, as they flew up to the skies.

It was the risky part of our plan.

While Daring Do and most of her forces were supposed to play the bait, Blade with her own fighters should be preparing an ambush near the Square. They’d gotten in position at night, hiding right in the simple citizen’s apartments, and waited.

The observers hadn’t raised any alarm, so I guessed it was fine.

The streets we were walking on were empty — nopony was foolish enough to stand in our way. The Central Square was supposed to be near the rebel’s stronghold, so I was ready for the battle to start at any moment.

“To be honest, I thought you’d be out in the front, as per usual,” Roofer said, addressing “Cuffs”.

Sturdy flickered his ear nervously.

“Yeah, well... I was wounded,” he explained.

Before Roofer could answer, I heard battle cries from ahead and everypony quickened their pace. His ears perked up and he put on the helmet. The battle began.

“Try not to die,” the stallion said and rushed forward.

Ruby and I exchanged a glance and followed him. Together, we trotted out to the spacious Central Square, only to see the battle already ending. The rebels were crushing the tents only to find them empty, while the last of the loyalists were barricading themselves in adjacent buildings. While the rebel soldiers were trying to break through the doors, Roofer quickly approached us.

“Something’s wrong here,” he said, looking around in concern. “As soon as the fight started, they just—”

Suddenly, a series of explosions sounded. I’d been expecting it to happen, so my friends and I ducked to avoid getting hit by any debris. When I lifted my head half a minute later, I saw that every street adjoined to the Square had been blocked by some rubble left by the blown up buildings.

The enemy was trapped!

While most of the rebels were shocked by the explosion and their commanders tried to regain control, our own ponies appeared on top of the newly made barricades, as well as on the roofs overlooking the square. A lot of them had crossbows pointed at the crowd below.

“It’s a trap!” Roofer screamed, though I could barely hear him; my ears were ringing.

“You bet,” I mumbled and drew my sword.

As he turned his back to us, Ruby and I nodded to each other.

The next moment, we jumped on him together. In one swift motion, we stabbed him into the back of his neck. I felt a little bad as he fell on his face, but I knew it was necessary.

Despite the general confusion, somepony noticed us attacking their leader. Five of them rushed towards us from the other end of the Square.

“Protect the general!” one of them yelled, attracting more attention to us.

There was only one thing I could do. “Get your armor off!”

I set an example by frantically pulling the pieces off. My friends looked at me like crazy, but began doing the same. Thankfully, I wasn’t crazy.

As soon as we were done, I embraced my friends in a hug and charged up my horn with an abundance of energy. I had the time for just one try, since the rebels were almost upon us.

The next moment, two of my friends and I flashed out of existence.

***

I opened my eyes, feeling empty.

“Sunny, are you okay?” Ruby asked.

I nodded and stood up groggily, looking around. We were standing on the roof of a building and nopony was trying to kill us, so it looked like I’d succeeded. I couldn’t see the Square itself from here, but I saw our allies standing on rooftops far ahead from us. I could also see dozens of pegasi hovering above, preventing the enemy from escaping by air.

“That was awesome, Sundae,” Cuffs said.

For one crazy moment, I was scared, but then I remembered it was just Sturdy in disguise. I flashed a tired smile at him, “Thanks.”

We spent the next few minutes trying to find a way to join our friends, but unfortunately, the door leading downstairs was locked and I was in no condition to blast it open with my magic. Ruby bucked it with force, but it stubbornly held its ground.

I lifted my head when I heard the flapping of wings and saw Daring Do along with a group of pegasi landing on our roof. She waved a hoof and her companions lowered their weapons.

“That was a bold move, killing that pony while you were trapped with the enemy,“ she grinned. “I like it!”

“Thanks,” I said. “He was one of the enemy leaders. Without him, the rebels are more likely to lose control.”

“And it worked,” Daring Do stated. “Come on, you don’t want to miss the show.”

Having said that, she ordered something to her guards and took off. A moment later, we were picked up by her companions who were following her. I didn’t even have the time to shriek in fright, when I was put back down.

She could have warned me, at least! I glared at Daring Do, who was standing at the edge of the roof, overlooking the enemy in the Square. Quelling my irritation for the moment, I followed her gaze.

The rebels were trying to organize themselves. I could hear somepony shouting orders, as they were slowly pulling themselves together. If we gave them enough time, they would definitely try to escape.

“Everypony please, I have an announcement!” a loud voice, clearly magnified by a spell, almost deafened me. I flattened my ears and looked to the left to see a white unicorn with a glowing horn speaking. “My name is Rarity and I am here on behalf of Princesses Celestia and Luna. They asked me to relay their grave displeasure with your actions so far.”

The rebels fell silent, their attention was fully concentrated on Rarity.

“Long live Tenebris!” somepony broke the silence.

“The Princesses are dead!” another one yelled.

The voice was joined by a low rumble of support.

Rarity laughed openly at such a claim.

“And you believed such nonsense?” she asked, shaking her head. “It’s a blatant lie, I say. Your leaders told you that my friends and I are dead as well, and yet here I stand before you, while they are nowhere to be seen.”

This caused a commotion in the enemy camp, as they frantically tried to find their general and failed. Rarity watched their futile efforts with a tiny smile.

“Your general has been captured,” she announced.

On a cue, the guards escorted ex-chief Iron Cuffs to stand besides Rarity. Her legs were chained and she had a gag in her mouth. She growled something angrily.

The crowd went still.

“Surrender now and you will receive a fair trial,” Rarity’s enchanted voice easily carried above the Square. “Refuse and you will likely die in the needless battle that would ensue.”

Something shifted in the crowd.

One by one, they began to drop their weapons as what little order that had remained among them slowly dissolved. Some of their commanders tried to prevent this rather harshly, but their own ponies turned at them.

This was our victory!

***

Two days had passed since our victory.

The city was fully under control of the loyalists and quickly recovering. Daring Do even sent detachments to small neighboring towns and villages to make sure they were secure from rogues and bandits who may have escaped the fate of their comrades.

But the most important news was about the food. While chaos had reigned over the city, the farmers had been simply storing their food instead of selling it, but now they had opened their storage bins and the trade was rapidly growing again. The first freighters bound to Manehattan were already being loaded up with supplies for Manehattan already to make up for the missed deliveries.

My friends and I were standing in Daring’s Do office, as she was discussing the message that had just arrived from Clipper with Commander Blade. The discussion was rather heated and emotional.

“He wants me to abandon the city!” Daring Do exclaimed, hitting the table.

“It’s not abandoning the city,” Blade argued calmly. “It’s helping the city. Clipper is right, we should gather everypony we have and go to Canterlot while there is still time.”

“Yeah, we’ll have a weapon against Tenebris ready soon,” Ruby added.

“Maybe so, but Fillydelphia is still under threat. Baltimare is under rebel control and who knows what they’re planning there. For all I know, they’re marching here right now!”

“Tenebris is the key,” I said. “If we deal with her, it’s only a matter of time until we deal with the rest.”

Daring Do furrowed her eyebrows, still unconvinced, but I could see that she was on the breaking point.

“But... I’m afraid if I leave, everything will fall apart...”

“Everything will fall apart if we allow Tenebris to grow her power base in Canterlot,” countered Blade. “Please, Daring Do, there is no time to lose. You need to make a decision now.”

I looked into her eyes and added, “We helped you to take back Fillydelphia, now you help us to take back Equestria.”

Daring Do lowered her gaze and sighed. Then she met my eyes.

“Fine. I’ll give the orders,” she said solemnly. “But if something happens here because I left, I will never forgive you.”

Part IV - Chapter 22: The Last Stand

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CHAPTER 22 – The Last Stand

Doctor Shade couldn’t sleep that night.

He’d had a knot in the pit of his stomach since the warden’s visit earlier. Usually, the warden wasn’t very talkative, but when he’d delivered the evening meal to Shade’s cell, the pony had dropped a phrase that had made Shade strongly suspect that something bad was about to happen.

“Enjoy your food, pal,” the pony said gloomily. “It may be your last...”

Shade asked what he’d meant, but the warden had refused to elaborate and just left, leaving the Doctor alone. Shade cursed inside — he hated being kept in the dark like that. At least he had Sketchy, the pegasus who’d helped him to save Fleur, to throw his guesses at. Him and a soldier that had been captured by Sundae and friends, but the latter was the quiet type. Both of them shared neighboring cells with the Doctor.

“What do you think the warden meant?” Shade asked Sketchy.

The pegasus shrugged. “Maybe they want to execute you, bastard.”

Shade frowned, ignoring the insolent tone of his ex-subordinate. He would have gotten mad before, but he’d gotten used to his jabs by now. And he couldn’t blame the pony for feeling that way; after all, the disaster that had happened was Shade’s responsibility, as he’d slowly come to realize. He’d been too blind and arrogant to see it before, but after spending a week in a place where you had nothing to do but think, Shade had had kind of an epiphany.

But as for Sketchy’s words, he doubted that was the case. No matter how much Celestia blamed him, he knew the Princess would keep her word. Shade had honored his part of the deal and she wouldn’t break hers. She was predictable this way. It had to be—

A loud hum from upstairs broke his train of thought, but at least now he understood what the guard had meant. The palace was obviously suffering a massive attack and judging by the warden’s grim words, he didn’t believe they were going to fare well against it.

Shade agitatedly jumped on his hooves and punched the bars of his cage. “Let me out!”

“I doubt that will work,” Sketchy said with deep skepticism in his voice.

However, Shade ignored him, continuing to pound on the metal. His thoughts were with his Fleur. Shade had been told she was recovering fast, but he hadn’t seen her since he’d brought the mare here. He had to see her, even if it was for one last time before his death.

He had to get out!

***

Our army was on its way to Canterlot. Of course, most of the ponies were new recruits just learning how to fight, but our numbers were pretty impressive. Clipper had gathered everypony he could for the task.

“Do you think this will be enough against Tenebris?” Marcus asked.

“I don’t know, Marcus,” I answered with a sigh. “We may beat her army, but she’s pretty strong by herself. I would feel much more confident if Starlight came back with the Void Stone already.”

We continued in silence, as I considered our chances. Even though we still didn’t have the Stone, I agreed with Clipper’s decision to move out. The scouts he had sent to other cities had reported that Tenebris was summoning all the ponies loyal to her to Canterlot. We couldn’t allow her to unite with her allies.

“Even without the Stone, we still have a solid chance,” Ruby said at some point. “Twilight got the Crystal Army to come and help us. As for Tenebris, even she won’t be able to hold out against the four alicorns at once.”

“The consequences of that could be disastrous, darling,” Rarity shuddered. “The mountains were crumbling when Twilight fought Lord Tirek; imagine if such a battle happened in a city like Canterlot!”

Ruby cringed and drooped her ears. “I know, but if it’s the only way...”

“Starlight will be back with the Stone,” I stated, forcing my voice to sound assured. “There will be no need for some big magical battle.”

Everypony fell silent after my words. Our quick pace didn’t predispose us to much talking, as everypony was busy trying to keep up. Canterlot Mountain was already on the horizon, but I knew that we still had a lot of ground to cover. By my estimates, we wouldn’t be arriving earlier than two or three days from now.

Our journey could have been much faster and more comfortable if the train was still working, but as it turned out, the bridges between Canterlot and Manehattan had been burned. Quite literally, in fact. We knew that Tenebris had been behind that diversion.

I perked up my ears when a horn sang from ahead of us. It was the signal to stop for the night. As soon as it sounded, everypony hurried to set up a camp. I levitated my heavy saddlebags off of my back and finally stretched my body like a cat.

The soldiers were putting up the large barrack tents, where dozens of ponies could sleep at once, but we didn’t have to do that. Thanks to Rarity, each pony in our little group had their own personal tent — a gift from her. As nice as it was, I hadn’t had the chance to use mine yet.

Ruby was sharing hers with me.

***

“We won’t get there in time,” Commander Blade said, swishing her tail from side to side.

Clipper, who appeared to be made of stone for all the emotions he was showing, simply nodded in agreement. My friends and I were present at the meeting that he was having with Blade and Daring Do. It was happening early in the morning and the topic we were discussing wasn’t pleasant.

A spy from Canterlot had returned bearing heavy news — Tenebris was about to attack the Palace. She’d gathered enough ponies by her side to break through the shield and crush any resistance on her way. Even the Princesses were in danger.

“No, we won’t,” Clipper confirmed. “That’s why I’m taking most of our pegasi and flying there at top speed.”

Everypony looked at him incredulously and I could understand their feelings very well. Our whole army barely matched Tenebris’ own numbers. Splitting it was pure suicide. What was Clipper thinking?!

Daring Do flared her wings, frowning.

“You can’t face Tenebris on your own, Clip,” she argued. “Not without the Stone.”

“But I do have it,” the pegasus said. “Starlight came back a few hours ago.”

I leaned forward in excitement after hearing the news. If Starlight was really back with the Stone, it changed everything. Clipper could ambush Tenebris while wielding the Stone and she would be helpless to stop him.

Of course, a lot of Clipper’s pegasi would die in that attack because Tenebris had a lot of soldiers that would outnumber and outmatch Clipper’s. But it wasn’t a high price to pay compared to some alternatives.

“I refuse to split our forces,” Daring Do stated, challenging Clipper with a look, “What you want to do is suicide.”

“Clipper, I’m sorry, but I have to agree with her,” Blade added. “Something might go wrong and the rest of us won’t be there to help.”

Clipper looked at both mares in turn and seeing that they wouldn’t budge, he shook his head in disappointment.

“You’re under my command,” he then said. “I am being polite by listening to your advice, but I don’t have to follow it.”

Rarity coughed and he glared at her. “Agent Clipper, please. I admire your bravery, but you have to admit that your plan is foolhardy,” she wavered slightly under the pegasus’ heavy gaze, but continued, “Surely, the Princesses can take care of themselves just fine and I am sure they’d be smart enough to escape through the secret path if it came to that.”

“The problem is, they can’t,” Clipper said. “The secret path has been found and destroyed. Nopony can escape, not even the Princesses.”

Everypony was shocked by the revelation. I looked at Clipper, feeling like an icy ball was rolling inside my guts. The situation hadn’t seemed as grave when I’d thought there was a way for the Princesses to escape, but now...

“But... what if you fail to save them?” I asked.

“I won’t.”

***

Clipper flapped his wings steadily, keeping his pace slow enough for the other pegasi to keep up. It was a little frustrating when he was in a hurry, but he knew that even his slowest pegasus was still faster than his speediest ground-bound pony. In just two hours, they’d covered the distance they would have spent days walking on hoof, having just arrived in Canterlot.

Tenebris had started her assault already.

Clipper observed from a distance as the great magical dome was flickering in all colors of the rainbow, while being hit by hundreds of spells at once. None seemed to have broken through so far, but all the attacks were concentrated roughly on one spot. As powerful as the alicorns were, Clipper realized that shield wouldn’t be holding out for long.

However, that wasn’t his immediate problem. A small group of pegasi patrolling the sky had noticed them and was hastily retreating. They shouldn’t be allowed to escape.

“Take them out,” he yelled to his sub-commanders that were following him in flight.

Clipper set an example by rushing forward, quickly catching up with the rebels. He didn’t need to look back to know the others were following right behind. It was only a matter of minutes until they’d quickly overwhelm the enemy.

Without even trying to give them a chance to surrender, Clipper engaged them, stabbing the nearest one in his exposed wing. The pegasus yelled and went down, while his comrades suffered the same fate from Clipper’s other soldiers.

“Don’t,” Clipper stopped one of his pegasi, as he tried to catch a falling rebel.

The soldier gave him a pained look, but obeyed the order. Before anypony else had noticed them, Clipper flew up to hide behind the large cloud and waited for the rest to join him. When everypony had finally settled on the cloud, he looked at his officers.

“Any losses?” he asked them.

“We almost lost Feather, but he was caught before he hit the ground,” one of the officers said. “He won’t be flying for a while.”

It seemed to have been the only serious injury in the short clash, so Clipper nodded in satisfaction. Taking out a group of rebel scum while suffering no losses themselves was a good thing.

“Good job,” he commended the officers. “Now I want you to sweep around the city and clear the enemy from the skies.”

After a short discussion, the officers nodded and relayed the orders to the soldiers. The force split up in two and went around Canterlot Mountain in opposite directions, while Clipper stayed on the cloud and prepared to wait.

As much as he wanted to join his ponies, he had a job to do that was just as important. From his cloud, Clipper could see the city below and he carefully examined the enemy’s disposition. Their main force had gathered on the streets adjacent to the palace, ready to storm it as soon as the shield had fallen.

Hundreds of unicorns were standing on the roofs, firing bursts of magic at the shield, while dozens of pegasi were hovering above. There were quite a lot of them — approximately similar numbers to his own; and being airborne, they could pose a serious threat. The good news was that nopony had yet seemed to acknowledge Clipper’s presence.

However, Clipper had no intention of fighting any of them, if that could be avoided. His main goal was to kill Tenebris. After that, clearing out the rebels would be a piece of cake. The problem was that he couldn’t see the self-proclaimed Queen among the enemy. If she was there, she wasn’t using her powers to help take down the shield, as Clipper had hoped.

After half an hour, his officers reported that their job was done. Clipper was pleased to have his force reunited, but he was getting restless, as Tenebris still hadn’t made an appearance. He had his usual impassive expression on his face, but inside the waiting was torturing him.

“Here it comes,” somepony said and Clipper perked up his ears at the loud cracking sound.

He looked at the shield — it flickered in and out of existence. With a final puff it finally dissipated and Tenebris’ forces eagerly rushed forward like a wave. Clipper narrowed his eyes, trying to distinguish the Queen herself.

“Em... Should we help? The Princesses could be in trouble,” one of his officers asked.

Clipper flickered his ear, but otherwise ignored it, being focused on the task at hoof. However, the officer just repeated the question and would likely keep bothering him until he got an answer.

“We will help the Princesses by killing Tenebris,” Clipper said, touching the Void Stone on his neck.

The thing itself was quite small after all the trouble it had taken to acquire it. As Starlight had explained, it sucked all the magic around it, except for the natural magic in a pony’s body. That was why he could still fly while wearing it. It was fixed to a collar, so he wouldn’t lose it in a fight.

“It may be too late by then!” exclaimed the other officer.

The pegasi around them began to murmur. It wasn’t easy for them to sit idly by, while watching the Royal Palace being under a massive attack. A tiniest frown appeared on Clipper’s face as he considered the situation.

Tenebris would likely come for the Princesses to finish them off, so being there when it happened was his best chance to fight her, rather than trying to find her on his own.

“Okay,” he nodded, having decided on his course of action. “We will get into the Palace, secure the exit and protect it until the Princesses are evacuated. We’ll kill any rebel standing in our way and if anypony sees Tenebris, report back to me immediately. Killing her is the key to victory.”

He waited a few minutes until everypony was ready.

“Follow my lead.”

He took off like an arrow, aiming at the Palace. A hundred of his loyal pegasi followed behind him as one. The ponies on the ground were too busy trying to break into the palace itself, but those pegasi which were in the air had noticed a rapidly approaching enemy.

Clipper snarled in joy as he dived at them like a hawk.

The pegasi’s armor had one weak point — wings. It didn’t matter that their armor was enchanted; the wings were always left vulnerable. His opponent barely had the time to react as Clipper shot past him, slicing his wing clean off in the process.

The rebel went down spinning with a panicked scream, but Clipper was already focused on the next one. The enemy thrust a spear at him which he easily avoided. Then Clipper grabbed the spear out of his hooves and, twisting in the air, threw it right back with such a force that it pierced even through the armor.

As the battle raged on around him, he managed to take down a few more rebels until he suddenly found none. He looked around, hovering in the air, and saw what was left of them retreating. Glancing down, Clipper started counting his losses.

Dozens of broken pony forms laid scattered on the pavement below and not all of them were from the enemy. Quite a few of his own had perished in the short battle. The numbers were heavily in his favor, but only because they had managed to take the enemy by surprise.

“They’re going to reorganize and come back,” he informed his officers. “Let’s get inside.”

However, getting inside proved to be more difficult than Clipper had anticipated. The windows were sturdier than they’d looked and simply refused to break. It took the combined effort of two pegasi accelerating and crushing their hooves at the glass at the same time to even put a crack in it. But after dozens of hits like that, even that glass broke.

Clipper went first and landed inside an empty palace corridor. One by one, the others slipped inside to join him, while he was waiting patiently for his full force to assemble. When they did, he ordered a few to remain here and guard the exit, while he and the rest went in the direction where the Throne Room would be.

“Remember, Tenebris is the priority,” Clipper threw on the way. “If you see her, take her down.”

The group raced through the empty corridors. Clipper skillfully avoided hitting pieces of furniture as he flew, but he heard thumps and crashes behind him as some of his ponies weren’t so lucky. Sometimes, they would encounter small groups of enemies, but those were swiftly taken care of with minimal losses.

The Throne Room was close. Clipper knew the Palace perfectly from his time in the Royal Guard, so he was able to navigate through it, taking the most direct route to his destination. As they got closer, he could hear the sounds of battle ahead.

“You go forward and engage the enemy,” Clipper ordered to his subordinates, while taking two dozen ponies to follow him in the other direction.

He led the troops into a side corridor, intending to come around and strike the enemy from behind. Judging by the sounds, it was a big group, so he needed every advantage to minimize the losses.

Soon, he ran into the enemy.

They suddenly appeared from behind the corner and Clipper hurried forward, hoping to hurt them before they knew what was happening. A hostile unicorn smiled, pointing his horn at the approaching enemy, but nothing happened.

Clipper smiled back.

Magic simply couldn’t work in a hundred-foot radius around him, thanks to the Void Stone. The unicorn opened his eyes wide in surprise the moment before Clipper took his head off. The group was mostly unicorns, so they didn’t offer much of a resistance as the others from Clipper’s group crashed into them, slicing them with ease.

After the fight was over, Clipper examined his dead opponents. Only one unicorn had been wearing the enchanted armor, while the others just had some old weapons and basic protection. They were probably the new recruits who had joined Tenebris for empty promises of a better life.

Clipper shook his head in disappointment. He’d had no joy in killing them, but they had chosen that path themselves.

“We got lucky,” Clipper explained to the others. “Our next encounter won’t be so easy, so be ready.”

He got nods of understanding in return.

A few minutes later, he heard the battle nearby intensifying — his main force had joined the fight. It was the perfect opportunity to hit the enemy’s rear. Clipper hurried forward and soon he was in a large foyer, adjacent to the Throne Room.

All the action was happening on the opposite side from him, near the doors to the Throne Room itself. It was pure chaos out there, but he could see that the enemy was having trouble holding their own against his pegasus force and the Royal Guards, who were defending the entrance.

“Keep close to me,” he threw at his followers, as he rushed to help his allies.

Somepony noticed his advance and shot a spell, but it dissipated as soon as it got into the Stone’s radius. Clipper grinned in satisfaction, but a bolt grazing off his chest armor washed off his grin. He cleared all the distracting thoughts out of his head and concentrated on the enemy.

One move of his wing and he leaned right to avoid a spear thrown in his direction. It was a foolish move of his opponent, leaving him without a weapon. Clipper chose him as his first target. He landed on the floor before him and, using his momentum, crashed into the enemy with his hooves.

The unfortunate pony was thrown backwards and before he could recover, Clipper flapped his wings and jumped on top of him. The pony was wearing armor, but it didn’t help him much when Clipper lunged his sword at the unprotected spot on his neck.

“Die!” somepony screamed.

He saw a movement in his peripheral vision and barely avoided an attack intact, though it severed the binding on the side that was holding his chest plate. He turned to face an opponent only to see him falling on the floor, stabbed by somepony else. Clipper threw himself forward, finishing the pony off with a swing of his sword.

He took a moment to dispatch the now useless armor plate and resumed the fighting. The battle raged on for what seemed like forever. Clipper took down a few more opponents, leaving none alive. He got some wounds himself, but he ignored them for the time being.

Soon, it had finally ended.

Clipper looked around and saw no enemy left standing. It was a brutal fight and a lot of his own comrades were now lying on the ground among the rebels. From what he could see, he had lost about one fifth of their whole force in this battle, but the enemy had lost much, much more, so it was a good exchange.

“Thank you for your help,” a pony in a bloody Royal Guard’s armor approached him.

It took Clipper a few seconds to realize that his armor looked too fancy for the pony to be a simple guard. It was probably the Captain himself. In the next moment, he recognized the Captain as Blueblood. Clipper shook his head to clear his thoughts — it was harder to think for some reason.

“Welcome,” Clipper answered and coughed.

He felt like he’d just caught the heaviest flu. It was getting hard to even stand, so he sat on his haunches, coughing again. The pegasus looked on his hoof, realizing that he’d just coughed blood.

“That’s not good,” the Captain stated, pointing at his chest. “Let’s get you into the Throne Room.”

Clipper glanced down, seeing a bolt sticking out of his chest. Blood was staining his blue coat around the exit point. He frowned. He hadn’t felt it when it had happened, but now it was beginning to hurt. His vision was getting blurry.

Slowly, he removed his collar with the Stone and gave it to the Captain.

“This is the Void Stone. It blocks magic. Use it against Tenebris,” he said before his mind went blank.

***

The door to the Throne Room opened.

Princess Celestia raised herself straight on her throne, putting on a stern expression. She was ready to unleash what magic she had left on the intruders, but relaxed when Captain Blueblood entered instead.

Despite her grim expectations, her nephew had survived and she was happy to see him again, even if it was only a temporary respite. The Captain looked roughed up in his bloodstained armor, but otherwise didn’t appear to have any serious injuries.

Other ponies followed behind him, carrying the wounded. Celestia recognized a blue pegasus she hadn’t been expecting to see among them.

“Agent Clipper!” she exclaimed in surprise, rising off her throne. “What happened to him?”

She chided herself inside for such a foolish question. He had obviously been wounded in the battle, while trying to save her. She gave a nod to Blueblood when he confirmed exactly that and looked at the others, assessing their condition.

Many of her Royal Guards were walking on their own despite the wounds, but plenty of them had to be carried because of their grave injuries. Celestia’s heart had an injury of its own from watching her ponies suffer. She couldn’t help but throw an angry gaze at the root of their problems — Doctor Shade.

The stallion was sitting in the corner of the Throne Room, consoling his marefriend Fleur. Everypony still left in the Palace was now here, though most of them had left through the tunnels before they had been destroyed.

Two of Shade’s ex-subordinates who had been in the cells with him were now fighting alongside the Guard, preferring to take this option, rather than be executed for treason. Shade had wanted to take that option himself, but Celestia refused to grant it.

As the medics began to tend to the wounded, Captain Blueblood approached the throne and bowed his head. The Princess regarded him with her full attention.

“You did well, Captain,” she stated.

“Thank you, Your Majesty. Though if it weren’t for those pegasi, we would have failed,” Blueblood said grimly. “And this is not over yet. It’s only a matter of time until the other rebels get here.”

“I see. The situation is grave indeed.”

Luna, who had appeared to be sleeping beside the throne a moment ago, raised her head. “It is time to face Tenebris in battle, sister. At least we’ll die with honor instead of hiding here like rats.”

Celestia shook her head, examining Luna. Her younger sister looked like she would break even from a harsh word. Even her mane was limp on her head instead of flowing in eternal wind. Celestia felt like Luna looked — the last few weeks had been hard for both of them.

“I’m afraid that’s not an option any longer, Luna,” she said. “But perhaps the arrival of Clipper and his pegasi means something.”

She glanced at the wounded agent and then regarded his followers. All of them were pegasi, which explained how they had gotten to the Palace past Tenebris’ forces.

“He gave me this,” Blueblood said, showing a collar with what looked to be a gem stone. “He said it blocks any magic around it.”

Celestia widened her eyes. It was the Void Stone! That meant that Sundae and her friends had succeeded in their mission. Though it was useless at the moment, since Tenebris wasn’t even close.

“Get this out of here, you imbecile!” one of the medics nearby yelled in frustration. “I need my magic to help the wounded.”

The Captain called one of his ponies and ordered him to take the Stone to the foyer. As soon as he had left, the medic nodded in satisfaction and began casting spells on his patient.

“We came here to evacuate you, Your Majesty,” one of the pegasi said, approaching. “It was Clipper’s last order... We have an army a few days out, but without you both—” he looked at Celestia and Luna in turn, “—It is useless.”

“An army?” Captain Blueblood asked in surprise.

The pegasus nodded. “Yes. Clipper was the one who brought us together.”

“I see. I’ll make sure Agent Clipper gets a reward when this is over,” Celestia said.

“I’m afraid it’ll be postmortem, Your Majesty,” the medic who was trying to save Clipper said. “He’s dead.”

The pegasus looked crestfallen at the news. Celestia put on a stony expression and nodded solemnly, thanking the medic for his attempt. Then she turned to the others.

“We must not let his death be in vain,” Celestia said, standing up. “Let’s begin the evacuation at once. My sister and I can fly by ourselves, but those who can’t will have to be carried by your pegasi. We’re not leaving anypony behind.”

Luna stirred, but didn’t correct her sister — she knew Celestia was right. As much as she hated running from the battle, it was the only sensible thing to do in this situation. The Palace may be lost, but not the war.

“We may not win this battle, Luna, but we can survive to fight another day,” Celestia said, having noticed her sister’s reluctance.

“Very well,” Luna agreed.

The next moment a pegasus from outside burst into the room, panting.

“They’re coming!”

***

Tenebris was listening to the newest reports in the manor’s office, which had become the base of operations for her. A pegasus talking before her was hiding his fear well, but his true emotions weren’t a secret for somepony like the Queen.

“So you’re saying that a whole bunch of the damn pegasi slipped past your patrols and sneaked into the Palace?” Tenebris summarized his report, frowning. Her displeasure was evident to the pony.

Insect, the pony in question, wilted his ears, while trying to hold his gaze focused straight forward. He had regretted his earlier decision to swear loyalty to Tenebris, despite the fact that he had clearly picked the winning side. His old boss Spider, however harsh he may have been when facing a failure, would never have frozen a pony bearing bad news to death like Tenebris had been prone to doing lately.

Insect felt the temperature in the room dropping dramatically and gulped, expecting the same fate to be thrust upon him.

“They didn’t just slip past us – they killed my patrols!” Insect explained, trying to ignore his own shivering. “They weren’t prepared for a serious assault.”

“And why weren’t they?” Tenebris asked, pressing the pegasus wings with her magic. “Didn’t you know the loyalists were coming to Canterlot?”

Insect shifted his wings and twitched when one of his feathers was plucked out. “I did, but I had no idea they’d split their army and send the pegasi ahead.”

Tenebris forcefully spread his wings apart, lifting him off the ground; she seriously considered tearing them off like she would do to a real insect.

“Maybe I should find somepony better for the job,” Tenebris said coldly. She pulled on his wings, making Insect yelp in pain. “I will demote you to commanding earth ponies from now on. You won’t be needing your wings for that.”

A horrified expression appeared on Insect’s face. He liked making other ponies suffer, but this was the first time he’d been experiencing the same emotions his victims had usually felt.

He wasn’t enjoying it.

“No, please! I will go for them personally!” he yelled in panic, trying to fold his wings back. “I’ll bring you their heads!”

Tenebris pondered his offer for a while, still holding Insect in the air, and then finally put him back on the floor.

“I’m nothing if not generous. Consider this your last chance. If even one of them escapes, you know what will happen.”

***

Celestia’s hooves clopped on the stairs of the long stairwell, though their sound was drawn out by hundreds of other hooves. Their procession was climbing to the top of the tower of the Royal Observatory.

“We will reclaim the palace soon, my sister,” Celestia tried to console Luna.

The Princess of the Night hung her head low, but she perked up slightly at her sister’s promise. She glanced at Celestia and saw a hidden pain in her eyes. Not physical, but emotional pain.

“Of course, sister,” Luna answered, trying to believe in what she said.

Soon, they’d reached the top floor. Ignoring the big telescope, they went straight to the balcony. Its doors were broken off their hinges. A rebel pegasus standing there took off as soon as he saw the approaching loyalists. They needed to act fast.

“Secure the air, make sure there are no pursuers,” Captain Blueblood, who’d assumed control over their forces, ordered and a large part of the pegasi rushed forward to do just that. The others waited inside, checking the Observatory in case of any hidden enemies. A few minutes later the pegasi reported that the skies were clear.

“This is our chance,” Blueblood said and turned to the Princesses. “You’ll go first, Your Majesties. The rest of us would follow shortly.”

“Of course, Captain,” Celestia nodded.

She walked out onto the balcony and took a deep breath of fresh air. It did wonders for clearing her head. The alicorn spread her magnificent white wings and wiggled them for a bit — it had been a while since she had used them the last time. Luna had had much more practice with her night strolls, though, so she was already hovering beside her sister, looking at her impatiently.

“We will fly east to join our main force, Your Majesties” one of the pegasi announced. “It’s just a few hours of flight, nothing hard.”

Celestia and Luna both nodded at the same time.

Bending her knees, Celestia gave a mighty flap, rising into the air; Luna following close. Dozens of pegasi took a protective sphere formation around them, keeping their eye on any potential threat.

Almost all of them were carrying somepony else on their back, so their maneuverability was rather limited. It was compensated by the fact that their riders could use their magic to take out any rebel foolish enough to get close.

The rest of the pegasi remained on the balcony to intercept any potential pursuer, while the last of the ground bound ponies climbed on their backs. When the main formation had gotten far enough from the palace, they followed.

***

Insect raced through the Palace corridors like a madpony. Even his pegasi were barely keeping up, while the ground ponies were hopelessly behind. Insect didn’t care about that — he was late as it was.

Soon, he had reached the Throne Room and his heart fell. Dozens of bodies were covering the bloody floor before the entrance. Not all of them were dead; some were still stirring and groaning in pain, but that wasn’t what had truly upset Insect.

The Throne Room was empty!

Well, maybe empty was not the right word, considering it was full of rebels too busy looting to pay him any attention. A few ambitious ones were even trying to hack the throne itself into movable pieces. But the Princesses and her followers were obviously missing.

“What in Tartarus are you doing here?!” Insect roared, finally getting all the attention in the room. “You were supposed to be killing or capturing the remaining loyalists!”

“Buck yourself, featherbrain,” somepony cursed.

Insect snapped his glare at the insolent brat. The mare was an earth pony. Just like the rest of the ponies in the room, Insect suddenly noticed. He could sense their hostility towards him and took an involuntary step back.

“Whatever,” Insect waved his hoof and left.

The earth ponies in their army were becoming angry and even Insect couldn’t blame them. Tenebris treated them like trash, even the ones who served her loyally. Pegasi were treated slightly better, not to mention unicorns, and that fact created a lot of tension between the three tribes.

Insect saw the tracks on the once clean floor. Only a blind pony could miss where the enemy had gone. He waited until his ponies had caught up, and together they followed the tracks through the corridors, until they got to the stairwell.

They had climbed about half the distance, when Insect stopped and hit a wall in frustration. It was time to stop fooling himself — he wouldn’t be able to keep his promise to Tenebris. There was nothing Insect could do to prevent the Princesses from escaping.

The loyalists were as good as gone.

Making a snap decision, he turned to the few of his soldiers that had been able to keep up with him so far.

“I’m deserting,” Insect announced. He saw shock in the soldiers’ faces. “If you have any brains left, you’ll go with me. Maybe we’ll become a band or whatever. Tenebris would kill us for failing her.”

The soldiers exchanged glances, but nopony spoke up. Insect sighed and shook his head in disappointment. He’d hoped at least one of them would take up his offer.

“Sure, I guess...” a lone soldier finally nodded. “To be honest, I was kind of thinking of that myself.”

His words broke a dam and soon the rest joined in hard agreement. Insect flashed a thin grin.

“I knew I could count on you.”

***

I put one hoof after the other, deep in thought. I was sick of talking because all the talk eventually turned to the inevitable battle ahead. It was one of those times that I missed the human world, where I could just listen to some music on my headphones.

There was a similar technology in Equestria, of course, but it was pretty expensive and not everypony could afford it. It wasn’t even a technology in the human sense of the word, since it was based on magic.

“Stop brooding, Sunny,” Ruby suddenly poked me on my side. “Cheer up.”

I gave her a reassuring smile, but remained silent — it was easier said than done. My thoughts returned to Clipper again. His whole plan had seemed very risky, though I knew it was necessary to save the Princesses. I just hoped the price wouldn’t be too high.

Excited voices sounded from ahead and I saw ponies looking and pointing at the sky. I looked up myself and saw it too — dozens of tiny dots were approaching us. I wasn’t celebrating just yet, since it could very well be the enemy, but then I smiled in relief when I saw two recognizable figures among them.

The white and dark-blue alicorns.

My smile sagged a little when the group finally landed and I saw the Princesses close up. Saying that they looked exhausted would be an understatement. But at least they were alive and unharmed as far as I could tell. Unfortunately, I couldn’t say the same for Clipper.

I watched with dread as some pegasus lowered his lifeless body onto the ground. Daring Do and Commander Blade hurried towards him and practically assaulted the poor pony, demanding to know what had happened.

“He’s dead,” he simply said and fell silent.

My friends and I approached them, while the rest of the army was busy setting up a camp. It was obvious we wouldn’t be moving anywhere for now until the situation got sorted out.

“He fought well,” a familiar voice said.

I turned to see a white unicorn in the Royal Guard’s armor. I barely recognized Blueblood under all that dirt and blood. It was a stark contrast to his appearance at our previous encounter.

“How did it happen?” Blade asked quietly.

Blueblood sighed.

“He saved our lives and the Princesses, but he was wounded in battle,” he said. “Our medic did the best he could, but...”

“I understand. Thank you.”

“At least the Stone is intact,” Starlight noted, pointing at the artifact on the neck of the pegasus who had brought Clipper’s body.

Everypony stared at her agape.

“What?” Starlight lowered her ears, looking from one to another in panic. “Did I say something wrong?”

“I’ll explain to you later, darling,” Rarity said.

“I guess he didn’t get the chance to use it against Tenebris?” I asked Blueblood.

The Captain shook his head and recounted exactly what had happened. Not only was Canterlot completely lost now, but Tenebris was still alive. Against all reason, I hoped that maybe Clipper had died while fighting the self-imposed Queen, but it turned out she hadn’t even bothered to show up.

“I guess we should talk with the Princesses now.”

***

Tenebris was livid.

Since Insect had disappeared, she had vaporized his second-in-command who had been foolish enough to bring her the news. Her army, such as it was, had succeeded in taking the Palace, meaning that the whole city was solely under her control. But while they’d been too busy looting the palace, the Princesses had escaped!

It was only a matter of time before they struck back. Tenebris knew that the loyalists had gathered a sizable force that was approaching Canterlot. Of course, most of them had no real experience, but it didn’t make her feel any better, considering her own army had the same problem.

“How far away are our reinforcements?” she asked a shaking pegasus before her, the new commander of her air force.

“They’re close, Your Majesty Queen Ma’am!” the pegasus roared, making Tenebris’ ears flex backwards.

“How close? And be quiet.”

The pegasus bulged his eyes at the Queen, biting his lip. Tenebris waited a few more seconds, but it didn’t look like he would say anything. She furrowed her eyebrows.

“What? Answer me at once!”

The pony flinched and then opened and closed his mouth.

“You told me to be quiet,” he whispered.

He recoiled when Tenebris screamed in rage, reared up and dropped her front hooves on the table, splitting it in half. She glanced at it as if surprised herself, and then turned her attention to the source of her annoyance.

“Your life depends on how you answer my next question,” Tenebris told him with icy calmness, which was jarring after her fit of rage. “How long would it take for our reinforcements to arrive in Canterlot?”

“Two days,” the pony said hastily. “One if they hurry.”

Tenebris nodded in satisfaction. That was acceptable.

“Find somepony fast to carry my orders to them.”

When she had learned that the loyalists were getting their act together on the east coast and gathering their forces in Manehattan, Tenebris had realized that it was time to end Celestia and Luna, who were still defying her in the Palace.

Her messengers had flown to every city the rebels controlled and had ordered them to send half of their forces directly under her command here, to Canterlot.

Plenty of them had dared to ignore her orders.

Those who had would be punished later, of course, but with those who had answered she would have enough forces to crush her enemies. Unfortunately, that didn’t take the Crystal Army, which had been seen leaving the Crystal Empire a couple of days ago, into account. That was why she needed to defeat them in turn. The timing would be tricky, but possible.

That damned Twilight Sparkle had succeeded in convincing the Crystal Empire to help Equestria, not that Tenebris had had any hopes for the opposite. The disturbance there hadn’t been planned by her or the Doctor, but it had been a welcome distraction that had delayed her enemies.

“Make sure that nopony else sneaks up on us,” Tenebris finally said, dismissing the pegasus in front of her. The speed at which he vanished could rival that of the best athletes in her old kingdom.

Tenebris sighed and called another pony into her office. Ruling was much harder than she remembered.

***

Our little procession approached the command tent occupied by the Princesses. I briefly noticed that Rarity and Captain Blueblood were keeping to opposite sides, which wasn’t surprising, knowing their history with each other.

The Captain saluted to two Royal Guardsponies who were standing by the entrance. While their armor wasn’t as impervious as I’d been used to seeing, the dents only gave them a tougher appearance. They returned the salute and let us pass.

“Your Majesties,” Rarity reverenced as soon as she walked into the tent.

The rest and I bowed clumsily. Celestia was sitting on her haunches by the table with a big map laid out, while Luna was simply lying nearby. Both looked exhausted, especially Princess Celestia, but her eyes were firm.

“My little ponies,” Celestia greeted us. “And Marcus, of course. I’m glad to see you’re okay and have successfully achieved your goal of getting the Void Stone.”

“Yeah...” Ruby sighed, lowering her ears. “A whole lot of good it did for Clipper.”

“If it weren’t for Clipper and his ponies, we wouldn’t be standing here,” Captain Blueblood said sternly.

“I’m not arguing with that,” Ruby answered, casting her eyes down. “It’s just...”

Ruby waved her hoof, looking for the right word, but failing. She sighed and shook her head in dismay.

“This whole situation sucks.”

“It may not be as bad as it seems, my pony,” Celestia intervened. “Tenebris may have Canterlot for now, but she doesn’t have enough support, even among her own followers. We’ll trap her in the city and find a way to deal with her without endangering the citizens within.”

“That’s what Clipper had wanted to do,” Commander Blade pointed out.

Everypony fell silent for a while, not knowing what to say. First, we’d lost Detective Seeker, now it was Clipper. Though I hadn’t exactly been friends with either of them, their deaths weighed heavily on me. At least Lyra had recovered from her injury. Speaking of her...

“Where is Lyra?” I asked Celestia. “Is she with you?”

The Princess turned her attention to me.

“I’m afraid not. I couldn’t endanger the lives of my servants in the Palace, so I ordered them to leave through the secret passages and hide in the city. Your friend Lyra left as well. Only the ones who have given an oath to protect me refused to leave, however much I tried to persuade them not to waste their life in vain,” Celestia flickered a glance at the Captain.

The pony in question smiled tiredly. “Serving the Princesses — and my dear aunt — is in no way a waste of my life, I’d say. And I know what I’m saying because I’ve wasted quite a lot of it on doing things I’m not proud of.”

Blueblood glanced at Rarity as he said that.

“Don’t worry, dear, I’m not holding a grudge,” Rarity smiled, though it seemed slightly forced. “The past is the past.”

“I think we are getting sidetracked, everypony,” Princess Luna voiced, lifting her head. Everypony turned to her. “We have gathered here to discuss our plan of defeating Tenebris. As you can see, my sister and I are in no condition to fight her at the moment and even if we were, we’d prefer not to do it in the city itself. I suggest we lure Tenebris out into the open instead of laying siege to Canterlot.”

“Yes, it may actually be wiser than what I offered, Luna,” Princess Celestia tilted her head. “But she seems very careful as of late. She may just send her army to deal with us, while remaining in Canterlot.”

The discussion continued for quite some time. I was just sitting and listening to it without offering any input, as wiser ponies were considering our course of action, but it went on and on and they still couldn’t choose the best one.

Suddenly, Marcus cleared his throat. Everypony ignored him at first, but then he stood up, approached the table and cleared his throat again.

“I’ve got an idea,” he said as they finally looked at him.

“Speak, human,” Princess Luna waved a hoof.

“Well, you were talking about infiltration, ambush and such, but why not try some negotiations?”

“Have you gone mad?” Blade blurted out.

The others mirrored her reaction and even I stared at Marcus incredulously, asking the same question inside my head as the commander. Everypony got quiet when Princess Celestia raised her hoof. She looked at a worried Marcus and invited him to continue.

“Em, I was just thinking, it wouldn’t hurt, right?” Marcus shrugged. “You ponies like to talk things out, so why not try it with her? She must know that she’s losing. The worst that could happen is that she refuses.”

“As much as I would like the idea of settling it peacefully, I’m afraid that Tenebris wouldn’t accept such an outcome,” Celestia shook her head solemnly. “Some negotiations were attempted the first time she invaded Equestria. She killed the ambassadors because they weren’t unicorns, claiming it to be an elaborate insult to her honor.”

“The human’s idea has its merits, sister, if only as a distraction,” Luna noted, scratching her chin. “Tenebris doesn’t know about the Void Stone. We can offer her a meeting on neutral ground. I have no doubt she would use that opportunity to strike at us, but instead we’d surprise her first.”

Everypony jumped at the suggestion. It was certainly better than everything else they’d thought of so far, so in the end most agreed to go with this plan. There was just one issue left — who would convey the message to the fake Queen.

“It has to be a unicorn,” Blueblood said. “I’ll take it upon myself to do it.”

“You command the Royal Guard, Captain,” Celestia retorted. “You’re needed here.”

“I am skilled in diplomacy and I am of royal blood, so I’m best suited to approach Tenebris,” he argued. “Besides, there isn’t really much left for me to command.”

The arguing continued for a little while, until Blueblood had finally convinced the Princess of his decision. After that, Starlight was asked to explain the properties of the Void Stone in detail to better prepare the ambush.

It was going to be a long meeting.

***

“Sunny, wake up,” I heard a familiar voice talking right into my ear.

I folded it down and slowly opened my eyes. It was dark, but I heard somepony breathing very close to me. The last thing I remembered was Princess Celestia saying something, but then... Had I dozed off somehow?

It sure seemed like it.

I realized that I was on my back, so I stirred and tried to turn on my belly, but my tail had gotten stuck under something.

“Quit moving like that,” Ruby complained.

“I want to go outside,” I said firmly, feeling a pressure building up in my lower belly.

“But I just got comfy!” Ruby said and put her head on my chest to emphasize that. At any other time, I would have enjoyed that, but right now I had another rather pressing concern.

“I really need to go,” I repeated. “Go outside.”

“Oh, sorry then.” Ruby hastily moved, allowing me to release my tail and crawl outside.

A fresh wind blew through my coat and I shuddered involuntarily. It was night, but I could see light on the horizon, suggesting that morning was near.

I galloped forward, looking around for the toilet. I didn’t need to go far, thankfully. The camp may be pretty chaotic in its organization, but that particular part had been set up quite well. In fact, the toilets had been dug up first thing, before even setting up the tents.

There was no line, so I quickly did my business, but as I was about to leave, I bumped into somepony. I murmured an apology and trotted away; some thought scratching at the side of my mind. Suddenly, I stopped and did a double take. The pony I’d bumped into reminded me of...

“Sundae, what a lovely meeting,” Doctor Shade said.

I gasped and took a step back, summoning my magic to blast the escaping criminal before me, but in the light of my magic, I saw another pony standing near him. A Royal Guardspony.

“Relax, filly, he’s under my watch,” the guardspony in question said.

“Yes, I’m afraid I am,” Shade confirmed. “Anyway, I’ve heard of your victory in Fillydelphia. Quite impressive, although the details are misty. How did you pull it off?”

“It’s none of your business,” I cut and turned around to leave.

“Wait...”

I stopped and looked back reluctantly.

“It’s rather fortunate that we’ve met, actually. I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on what I’ve done, so I want to apologize for trying to kill you, Sundae,” Shade said quietly. I had to locate my ears towards him to hear anything, though I could hardly believe them. “You’ve always had potential. Truth be told, I was hoping that you’d survive when we threw you into the portal. It would have been easy to just kill you outright, but I guess I couldn’t bring myself to do it. You were a threat to my plans and I had to do something, though now I wish I’d failed.”

“I don’t know what to say,” I said, shaking my head.

The Doctor’s apology was something totally unexpected for me and I wasn’t sure if it was sincere or not, even though my trustful nature told me to believe in it.

“I don’t expect you to forgive me, Sundae,” Shade shrugged. “I’d just been wanting to say this for a long time and I couldn’t waste this opportunity.”

“Okay,” I nodded, still struggling to accept Shade’s words. “I-I’ll think about it.”

***

Canterlot Mountain was towering over us. The rebel scouts could be seen observing our army building a fortified camp from afar, so our presence wasn’t exactly a secret for Tenebris.

Captain Blueblood had already set out for his mission. His armor had been cleaned and polished, somewhat restoring its former glory, and he was carrying a white flag. The unicorn was alone, not wishing to put anypony else at risk. For all we knew, Tenebris’ soldiers would simply kill our envoy on sight.

After half an hour of torturous suspense, a pegasus who had been observing Blueblood’s advance from the clouds landed excitedly. “They let him in!”

Princess Celestia nodded calmly, showing no surprise.

She was standing with the rest of us outside, though without her sister this time. Since it was daytime, Luna was asleep and it had been Celestia’s decision not to disturb her for such an event. I personally thought that Luna would be upset to be excluded, but I kept my opinion to myself.

“Everything is now in the prince’s hooves,” Rarity said, shaking her head. “I have to admit, my first impression of him was quite poor, but I’m glad to see that he has a good side as well.”

Another hour had passed since Blueblood had first entered Canterlot.

We had some breakfast while we waited. After that, Ruby and I separated from the rest and simply strolled around the camp, chatting about things unrelated to the current events. We both needed a little distraction.

While we were talking, I observed the work still going on around us. The busy ponies were cutting down the trees and digging up trenches around the camp, securing it in case Tenebris attacked. The unicorns were casting their spells and drawing defensive runes on the ground under the guidance of the Royal Guard’s unicorns.

I didn’t know if anything would be useful against Tenebris herself, but I was sure that her army would have a hard time breaking through.

“What are you thinking about?” Ruby asked, nuzzling my side.

I smiled, turning my attention back to her. “Wondering if our army is strong enough to deal with Tenebris.”

Ruby scrunched her muzzle and shrugged. Obviously, she had no answer for my question. I doubt anypony did, not even Tenebris herself — otherwise, she would have attacked us already.

“I don’t want to worry about that for now, Sunny,” Ruby said in the end. “Let’s just enjoy a few moments of peace together while we can.”

Having said that, Ruby nuzzled my cheek gently. Without thinking, I turned my head, catching her lips with my own. She returned the kiss eagerly.

***

“Tenebris has accepted the offer,” Blueblood announced.

The Captain had returned just ten minutes ago. He didn’t even need to say anything — it was obvious from his slightly smug expression that he was bearing good news.

A cheer sounded in the command tent as he shared that piece of news. Princess Luna joined in too, even though she was a little grumpy that nopony had woken her up to see the Captain leave, as I had predicted. Commander Blade, however, wasn’t as jovial as the rest.

“We shouldn’t celebrate prematurely,” she said. “Usually, if the enemy does what you want, it means that they’re planning something nasty for us.”

“Well, that was the idea, darling,” Rarity smirked. “We wanted to lure her out.”

“I believe we must give the negotiations a chance first,” Princess Celestia said.

Everypony in the room looked at her agape, but she was the Princess, so nopony said anything rash. However, Luna wasn’t held back by the same restrictions.

“What are you saying, sister?” Luna narrowed her eyes. “Tenebris is a vile creature. Her words are empty. Negotiating with her is a waste of time!”

“I agree with that statement, dear sister, but we are unlike her,” Celestia shook her head. “We cannot break the sanctity of parley to ambush her. It would damage Equestria’s reputation for centuries.”

“What good will our reputation do if Tenebris wins?” Luna flared her wings angrily, giving her sister a look of annoyance.

Celestia just sighed. “We have to think about the future, Luna. We will strike back when Tenebris breaks the promise, but we cannot do it first.”

Luna seemed to calm down a little when she heard that.

“You know, no one has to know what really happened—” Commander Blade began, but Celestia snapped a stare at her and she shut up.

“We will not step on that road again,” the Princess said, keeping her eyes on the Commander. The mare nodded hastily.

I briefly wondered what Celestia had meant by again, but that was for another time. However, I silently promised myself to hit the history books to find out if she was referring to something.

“Fine, we’ll do as you say, Princess,” Luna grumbled. “Now, let us discuss the safety measures I would like to take...”

The discussion continued well into the afternoon, until everypony was satisfied with the plan. Tenebris was going to meet with us on an empty stretch of road between our camp and Canterlot. The road could be seen from our side and hers, so it was difficult to prepare some kind of ambush without anypony noticing.

What Tenebris wouldn’t expect was the Void Stone.

Since Clipper was dead, somepony else had to carry the Stone instead. That pony should be skilled in melee combat and be able to deliver it fast. Obviously, our choice fell on Daring Do.

Just in case something went wrong, Luna was staying back at the camp. The Night Princess had argued with that decision, but had to accept its logic in the end. Celestia was going to be accompanied by Blueblood, Starlight, Rarity and me, besides a dozen of our best unicorn melee fighters, as their magic would be useless. It wasn’t perfect, but Tenebris’ condition was to avoid the two other tribes on the meeting, so all my other friends had to stay out.

“Why do you have to go, Sunny?” Ruby frowned. “It’s too dangerous.”

“I’m used to danger,” I retorted. “Besides, it’s what Tenebris wanted.”

It was true, in fact. One of her conditions was to have Starlight and me present on that meeting. That was highly suspicious of Tenebris, but we had to play along, even though we knew she likely wanted to get rid of the ponies she hated in one fell swoop. It’s not like we weren’t planning the same.

Daring Do was going to hide far from the meeting and arrive at the signal. Our job was to hold Tenebris off until the Void Stone blocked her magic, and then deal with her afterwards. It sounded pretty simple in theory, but it was Tenebris we were dealing with, so I was sure it wouldn’t be easy.

The negotiations had been scheduled to be right after sundown, and the rest of the day was dragging incredibly slowly for my tastes. I was sitting by the campfire and looking into the flames, hoping for them to calm my anxiousness. I always hated waiting for something, especially something as important as this.

“You’re not going,” Ruby stated firmly, settling by my side.

I gave my marefriend a stern gaze. She didn’t budge.

“Yes, I am. I have to,” I told her.

“Then I’m going with you.” Ruby sounded uncompromising.

I shook my head and tried to ignore Ruby’s wilted ears. I knew she was worried about me — I would be too in her place — but there was no other way.

“I’ll be fine,” I assured her. “Princess Celestia and a whole bunch of powerful ponies will be there.”

“Princess Celestia is exhausted and Tenebris eats simple ponies like us for breakfast,” Ruby countered. “I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

I embraced my marefriend in a hug because I didn’t have anything else to say. Especially since I knew myself how risky it was. We let the hug go on for quite a while, until we finally disentangled.

“Just don’t play the hero,” Ruby said.

I simply nodded.

***

The time for the meeting was finally upon us.

Our party had gathered at the camp’s border, raring to go. My friends who were staying back were here to see me out. We didn’t say goodbye because I wasn’t supposed to be gone for long. Besides, it would be tempting fate. I simply gave them one last glance before turning away.

“Be careful, sister,” Princess Luna said to Celestia.

The other Princess nodded. After that, Celestia walked ahead and the rest of us followed, while Ruby watched us go. I even made her promise that she wouldn’t try to follow me.

It didn’t take our procession long to reach the place. It was a simple stretch of road at the side of the mountain; the only significance it had was a white flag on a pole that Blueblood had planted earlier.

“I don’t like it,” I said, swiveling my ears around. “I feel like she’s up to something.”

“Well, of course she is,” Rarity rolled her eyes. “What else would you expect from an evil Queen?”

“She’ll be in for a surprise herself,” Starlight smirked. “This Stone is really cool. Even Tenebris won’t be able to surpass its power.”

I remembered what Starlight had already told me about the Stone and frowned.

“But we’ll have to keep it close to her for it to have any effect,” I reminded her, but she just waved her hoof dismissively.

“Whatever spell she casts won’t have any effect within the Stone’s radius, either,” Starlight said. “She could unleash a bucking tornado at us and we’d barely feel a breeze.”

My mood slightly improved after that. The only downside to complete magic protection was the inability to use it ourselves, but that was why our soldiers were prepared for melee combat. Tenebris would be at a heavy disadvantage.

After a few minutes of waiting, we finally saw our enemies. Tenebris herself was stepping proudly in the lead, with a group of ponies behind her. Their numbers were the same as ours as per the condition of the meeting and all of them were unicorns as well.

As they approached, I tensed up when I recognized Morning Bright by her side. I should have known that damn unicorn would be here. He noticed me as well and I exchanged a deadly glare with him, until returning my full attention back to Tenebris.

“Tenebris,” Princess Celestia greeted the mare with a barely noticeable nod.

The two of them stood before each other in silence. Tenebris wasn’t larger than an ordinary unicorn, but her white glowing eyes spoke volumes about her real power. She had faced off against the two princesses at once and come out unscathed! Granted, the princesses were holding back to avoid damaging the city, but the fact that Tenebris was powerful was undeniable.

She wore a golden tiara on her head that was probably supposed to represent her “royal status”, but otherwise she looked the same as at our last encounter, though maybe a little more grumpy. If such an expression could even be used for somepony like her.

“Celestia,” Tenebris answered with a sneer. “Have you come here to discuss your surrender?”

The Princess shook her head, unperturbed. “I’m afraid not. Even you should know that you’re not going to win. However, if you lay down your weapons without a fight, I’m willing to consider simply ending your life rather than sending you back to Tartarus. I’m sure you don’t want to spend another eternity in it.”

I was expecting Tenebris to get mad, but she simply laughed at that offer. Celestia looked at her with a serene expression until the other mare calmed down.

“Is that so?” Tenebris smirked. “Are you willing to do whatever it takes to avoid any bloodshed?”

“Yes. The lives of my ponies are precious to me.”

Tenebris’ eyes flared dangerously as she grinned.

“Would you give me their lives—” Tenebris pointed her hoof at me and my friends, “—if that was the condition of my capitulation? Surely, the lives of the many outweigh the lives of the few.”

I felt my fur stand on end at Tenebris’ full attention. I looked at Celestia’s unreadable face, awaiting her answer with trepidation. I knew that the Princess wouldn’t go for that, but there was no way to be sure.

“Don’t take me for a fool, Tenebris,” she finally said and I sighed in relief. “I would never trade the lives of my friends for your empty promises. If that’s all you have, then our negotiations are pointless.”

“Fine, let’s get serious,” Tenebris waved her hoof dismissively. “If I were to surrender, I’d need...”

The self-imposed Queen proceeded to list a number of conditions upon which she would surrender. Some of her conditions were quite reasonable. However, I listened to them with a mix of relief and anxiety. It didn’t matter how reasonable she sounded — Tenebris just never struck me as the surrendering type.

When Tenebris was done, it was Celestia’s turn to talk. The Princess denied some of the things that Tenebris had demanded, but agreed to the rest. The two talked to each other for some time and even I started to believe that Tenebris was being serious.

Suddenly, I saw a flicker of light.

I glanced back and saw flashes of fire from the direction of our camp. It was too dark to see what was happening, but it looked like there was some fighting going on. I snapped my attention back to Tenebris to see her smug expression.

“Ready to surrender now?” she said, her horn ablaze.

***

It was night, but Ruby was sitting by the campfire with Marcus. Nopony in the camp had even considered sleeping. Even if they had, Ruby was far too worried to simply go to bed. Her marefriend and her friends were risking their lives, while all she could do was fret.

“Don’t worry, Marcus, they can stand up for themselves,” Ruby said more for her own comfort.

“Yeah,” the man answered. “How long have they been out there already?”

Ruby shrugged. “About an hour, probably. I’m— ”

“What’s this?” Marcus interrupted her.

Before Ruby could get angry, she heard a noise too. Somepony screamed and the camp around them began to move. Ruby jumped on her hooves too, feeling glad that she hadn’t removed her light armor for the night.

“Something’s wrong,” she threw at Marcus and trotted towards the sound.

Marcus hurried after her, drawing his sword.

Soon it became apparent that the camp was under attack. The sounds of fighting could be heard from around them and Ruby saw flashes of spells from a few directions at once. The soldiers were running around frantically, without any clear organization or indication as to where they were going.

“Stay close to me,” Ruby said to Marcus and the man nodded grimly.

Together they rushed to join the defenders. Thanks to the moon and the constant spell discharges, they could see the enemy clearly. They were moving in a solid group through the camp, setting the tents on fire and cutting down the lone soldiers that got in their way.

“Get down,” Ruby yelled, seeing a movement above.

Ignoring her, Marcus thrust his sword forward, impaling a flying attacker. Both of them fell down, but after just a moment Marcus had gotten up, no worse for the wear, while his opponent was gasping on the ground with a gaping wound in his chest.

“Everypony, come to me!” somepony yelled from behind them.

Ruby and Marcus exchanged glances and ran towards the voice, as well as most of the other soldiers in the vicinity. The source of the voice was a large earth pony wielding an axe. He had amassed quite a number of loyalists around himself.

“Let’s show those fools!” he yelled, pointing his axe at the approaching enemy.

He set an example by galloping straight towards them first. The rest – including Ruby and Marcus – followed him without hesitation, inspired by his bravery. The earth pony crashed right into the enemy’s midst, throwing a few lesser ponies on the ground.

Before their comrades could swarm him with their numbers, the loyalists joined the mix. Ruby personally slashed her weapon at the pony who’d almost dealt a blow to the axe-wielding warrior. The pony jumped back, unhurt thanks to his armor and went to another opponent, while Ruby defended against somepony else.

While Ruby was busy, Marcus was balancing between life and death. His height wasn’t to his advantage in this battle, quite the opposite. He was taller, yes, but it didn’t make him stronger than an average earth pony and he was just as vulnerable to their sharp weapons.

Marcus kicked a pony who tried to ram his groin in the face and followed with a sword attack, leaving a deep cut in the pony’s foreleg. Before he could finish him off, he took a magical missile to his chest and fell to the ground, cringing in pain.

Rolling to avoid a counter-attack from his wounded opponent, he stabbed him on his side. The pony yelled and Marcus promptly ended their quick encounter with a hit to the head. There was no time to catch a breath, however, as another spell hit the ground under his legs.

The grass beneath him was set on fire, but Marcus stomped on the fire to kill it before it spread and turned to face the pesky unicorn. The mare looked weary from the two spells she’d already tried, but she charged at him nonetheless, lowering her horn menacingly.

What a crazy mare.

Marcus allowed her to get closer and then stepped aside, kicking her flank. She lost her balance, falling to the ground and rolling a few times. The unicorn began to get up, lighting up her horn at the same time, but Marcus jumped closer and kicked it with his boot.

He remembered from Sundae how sensitive a horn could be, especially while using magic, but the result exceeded his wildest expectations, as the mare fell back to the ground, wailing in pain and holding her poor horn. Marcus couldn’t bring himself to kill off a wounded enemy, so instead he hit her in the head with the hilt of his sword, rendering her unconscious.

The man wiped his brow and looked around in despair, taking a moment to assess his surroundings. All around the fighting was raging – blows were being exchanged and ponies were falling down either dead or wounded. He couldn’t see Ruby at the first glance, but he hoped she wasn’t among those who had fallen.

Sundae would be mad at him otherwise.

***

“It’s a trap!” somepony realized, but that was really just stating the obvious at this point.

Tenebris’ followers showered us with a torrent of spells. Everypony but Celestia and Starlight were thrown back like rag dolls, while the two somehow raised a shield to protect themselves. I landed a few meters backwards, as a strong smell of burnt hair hit my nostrils. When I looked down, I noticed my breastplate was white-hot.

Casting a cooling spell on it, I jumped back on my hooves and looked for Rarity. I gasped when I saw her on the ground, rushing to her motionless body. Putting an ear to her chest, I made sure she was breathing, and then turned my attention to the raging battle.

Thanks to Celestia and Starlight taking the bulk of the enemy’s rage, our own fighters had had a little time to recover. They were each engaged in a magical duel with their opponent, while the Princess struggled to keep Tenebris occupied.

Before I could join them, however, I was abruptly lifted up and then smashed back to the ground. Something cracked and a sharp pain pierced my barrel. Holding back a groan, I attempted to get up, but some force kept me from moving.

“Stay down, Sundae,” Morning Bright said.

I ignored his words and struggled to overcome his magical grip, but to no avail.

“I didn’t finish my job the last time,” Bright continued. “You were supposed to die.”

As soon as the words left his lips, the pressure increased tenfold. The air was squeezed out of my lungs, making it impossible to breathe. I gasped for oxygen and my vision became spotty, while I tried to gather some of my magic in a desperate attempt to escape.

I felt like a bug under his hoof.

“Leave her alone,” Rarity’s voice demanded.

I was barely remaining conscious at this point and just as I was on the verge of fainting, the pressure was suddenly gone.

“What?” Bright asked in surprise.

My vision had returned enough to see a white hoof connecting to his muzzle and sending him sprawling on the ground.

“You’re not as arrogant without your magic, are you?” Rarity smirked, stomping at him while he tried to get up.

Groaning, I lifted myself up, ignoring the pain all over my body. It wasn’t as bad as when I’d been hit by Starlight’s spell, so I guess that was good. I looked at the battle — the situation had changed dramatically once the Void Stone had come into play.

Tenebris’ unicorns were caught with their pants down, figuratively speaking, and our own ponies went into the offensive. One by one the rebels fell, not being ready for a melee engagement, but for some reason our weapons weren’t having any effect on Tenebris herself.

Despite her followers lying dead or wounded, she was just standing there, completely ignoring her surroundings.

“I believe it’s my turn to offer you to surrender,” Celestia said with a hint of amusement.

Tenebris’ eyes sparked, rapidly changing their color to a bright blue. A strong wave of cold emanated from her, sending chills along my spine. The ponies took a step back when the mare began growing in size.

I watched it happen in silent shock. Tenebris couldn’t be using magic. That was impossible!

“WE ARE FINALLY FREE,” Tenebris bawled.

I flattened my ears, leaning back. Everypony looked at the mare in shock. Daring Do, who was hovering above with the Void Stone, was shaking it wildly, as if hoping to make it work.

“You ponies are still bickering among themselves,” she continued. “We’re going to enjoy a glorious feast!”

“Who are you?” Princess Celestia asked, flaring her wings and taking a step forward.

“We are the windigo.”

***

Ruby was tired.

She didn’t know how long the battle had lasted, but it had felt like hours. The mare was bleeding from countless small cuts, and her foreleg was badly bruised, which made holding her sword a literal pain. At least it was over...

What was left of the rebel’s initial group had finally broken down and run away, leaving behind dozens of dead and wounded comrades. Ruby looked around and her heart clenched — the loyalists hadn’t come out unscathed either. In the bright light of the burning tents, she saw plenty of their own ponies on the ground, including the earth pony with the axe.

It was a terrible sight, but more terrible was that try as she might, she couldn’t find Marcus anywhere. Ruby hoped he hadn’t been one of the casualties, but she couldn’t dismiss the possibility.

“Are you okay?” Marcus’ voice startled her from behind.

Ruby turned to the man, startled, but then relaxed. After she assured Marcus that she was fine, she examined his own condition. The human had his clothes torn and the armor almost ruined, but it had served its purpose by saving him from any life-threatening injuries.

“This is not over yet,” Ruby said, pointing to the side where sounds of battle could still be heard. She addressed everypony nearby, “Follow me, we must help them.”

***

I stared at Tenebris dumbfounded. The others shared my reaction; even her own allies — those who were still alive anyway — were backing off from the crazy mare as her whole body was covered by a layer of ice in a matter of seconds.

“You’re not welcome here, fiend,” Princess Celestia spoke sternly, though I heard a panicked note in her voice. “Go back to the frozen north.”

Tenebris roared in laughter. While she was having fun, everypony gathered behind Celestia, unsure of what to do. Daring Do was still hovering above us with the Stone, but it didn’t seem to affect the creature. It casually lit up its horn, turning towards us threateningly.

“Get the Stone out of here!” Starlight yelled to Daring Do and the mare raced as if the demons of Tartarus were chasing her.

With our magic restored, everypony launched their attacks at the windigo. Even I gathered enough strength for a simple blast. Spells of different colors and purposes rained upon the beast, but were easily deflected off its icy exterior.

Then Celestia herself finally joined the effort. A golden ray of pure energy erupted from her long horn, blinding in its brightness, and struck the mountain side directly above the monster. Large chunks of rock were knocked off by the power of that strike, falling on her in an avalanche.

The creature glanced up at the last moment before getting crushed under tons of rubble. I was sure that nopony could have survived something like that, but it wasn’t a simple pony we were dealing with. Celestia flapped her wings, soaring into the air above the rocks.

“Get back, ponies,” she yelled to us and we rushed to follow her order.

I stopped only when I had decided I’d gotten far enough, looking back just in time to see Celestia casting something fierce. A grand wall of flame descended on the road below. It wasn’t a simple fire; I could feel the heat from it even from afar. Even the rocks themselves were melting!

Soon, the Princess was done and landed near us. She was sullen and could barely stand — the spell had taken a lot out of her, especially since she’d had no time to recover after her last magical exhaustion. But it had gotten the job done.

Tenebris was finally—

An infernal howl hollered from behind. A ghost-like horse came right through the melted rock under which Tenebris had been buried and floated into the sky. I could sense the temperature dropping dramatically; the moon above became covered with clouds.

“This is not good,” Starlight commented.

I barely heard her, half-deafened by the windigo’s roar, but I wholeheartedly agreed with her statement. Tenebris may be dead, but the situation had become much more complicated with the ancient monster roaming free and only getting stronger the more we fought each other.

To make matters worse, I saw the rebels marching down the road from Canterlot, likely unaware that their Queen had been defeated.

“We need to get back to the camp and organize a defense,” Captain Blueblood said.

After he uttered those words, we turned around and galloped away from the approaching enemy, while the snow was slowly covering the ground around us. I ran on a par with the others, despite my traumas, likely because of the adrenaline. I dreaded what I would feel later after torturing my body like that, but it was necessary for there to be any later at all.

I could see the camp burning even from afar. The battle there was still in progress and I asked myself an interesting question — who were they fighting if Tenebris’ army was just coming down the mountain? And how in Equestria could we stop them all?

Both of those questions were crucially important, but it was up to ponies like Celestia and Blueblood to answer them, while all I could do was to follow their orders.

As we got closer to the camp, we passed a number of beaten rebels in full retreat. They scrambled away at our sight, until Blueblood pinned one down with his magic and held the pony down until we had all approached. The pony whimpered when he saw the Princess herself, desperately struggling to get out, but Blueblood’s magic was too strong for him.

“Answer me honestly, pony, who are those traitors attacking my loyal army?” Celestia asked, looking at the rebel like dirt under her hoof.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t want to do it! I wanted to escape...” the pony cried out, but Celestia waved off her hoof, cutting him off.

“I need an answer now.”

“W-well, I’m from Whinny,” the pony said hastily, tears in his eyes. “Tenebris gave an order to send half of what we had to Canterlot, and a few days ago we joined up with the others from different cities. Then yesterday she sent a message telling us that we should gallop here to attack the loyalist’s — I mean, your — army here...”

“I see,” Celestia said. She cast a spell that put the pony to sleep and turned to us.

“I’m afraid we’re going to lose this battle,” she said grimly. “We must retreat again and save what we can.”

Captain Blueblood nodded in silent agreement.

***

A loud howl from the mountain’s direction startled everypony — loyalists and rebels alike — enough to stop the fighting for a moment, but after it had passed, the battle resumed with new strength.

Ruby and Marcus had met Sturdy in the midst of the chaos and now all three were fighting side by side with Commander Blade herself. Every loyalist still at the camp had gathered around the command tent, repelling attack after attack. The ponies were tired, but no one was thinking about surrender, not when Princess Luna herself was fighting alongside them.

If it hadn’t been for her example, the loyalists would have been overwhelmed a long time ago, but even the alicorn wasn’t invincible. That was painfully obvious by a few bloody gashes staining Luna’s dark-blue coat, and though the Princess was doing a good job of ignoring them, Ruby knew how hard that must have been.

“We’re done for,” Marcus stated during a small respite between the attacks.

The man was swaying, barely able to stand. Ruby herself fell on the ground, panting. Even her earth pony stamina had its limits and she was very close to exceeding them. Despite that, she shook her head in stubborn denial; snow dropping from her mane.

“I don’t think so,” Ruby said. “We’re going to win for sure.”

She didn’t believe her own words, but she had said them anyway. If there was a choice to die fighting or curled up in fear, the choice was obvious.

“Here they come again...” Sturdy announced and the battle resumed once again.

As usual, Ruby got right in the thick of it, along with Sturdy and an unfamiliar Royal Guard. The changeling was a powerful fighter and they had been standing together against the rebels for the few previous attacks, saving each other’s lives more than she could count.

When a trio of ponies rushed at them, a unicorn in their midst launched a fire projectile, which was met by a rock that Sturdy levitated in its way. The projectile blew up, throwing the rock backwards.

Ruby widened her eyes and ducked. The rock shot over her head and she heard it meeting something metal. She threw a quick glance, noticing the guard had lost his helmet and froze in shock.

“Doctor Shade!?”

The earth stallion grinned madly and suddenly leaped at her. Ruby flinched in fear, but the stallion jumped over her and tackled the enemy, who was about to slice the distracted mare in half.

Ruby shook her head, forcing herself to ignore Shade. He was fighting on her side and she couldn’t allow herself any more distractions when any mistake could cost her life. The life that her sworn enemy had just saved!

Jumping on her hooves, Ruby joined him in battle, but a sudden explosion behind her sent the mare flying forward. The last thing she remembered before falling into darkness was hitting the earth with a great force.

***

My hooves were freezing.

We were at the camp’s fortified border, but all the action had moved close to the center. I gazed at the burned tents and dead ponies, trying to be detached. I feared that one of my friends or Ruby herself may have been lying among the fallen, but it was far too dark to distinguish anything but general shapes.

Even Princess Celestia couldn’t keep her ears up upon seeing such carnage. It lasted a few seconds, until her shock was replaced by an expression of rage, as she stomped her hoof at the ground.

“Those rebels won’t get away with what they’ve done to my ponies,” she said with a fire in her eyes. Although that might have just been a reflection...

“My Princess, you can’t take them on alone— ”

Celestia interrupted Captain Blueblood with a sharp wave of her hoof.

“I know what I can or cannot do,” she scolded him. “We— ”

A thunderous roar sounded from the sky. Everypony looked up, fearing the worst, and gaped. Instead of the windigo, a certain purple alicorn was hovering high above the camp, illuminated by the bright light coming off her horn. She lowered a blowing horn from her lips.

“Twilight...” Celestia whispered, though I could see that much myself.

“Everypony, cease your pointless fighting!” Twilight demanded, her voice magnified tenfold. “Your so-called Queen Tenebris has been vanquished and you can’t hope to defeat the Crystal Army that I brought with me without her. I don’t want to use it — enough blood has been spilled already — but I would have to if you refuse. But know that if you do, it would reinforce our true enemies — the windigos. You may think it’s just some old mare’s tale, but just look around. The land is already covered in snow! So lay down your weapons immediately. You must stop this before it’s too late!”

Everything became quiet and still after that, only the snow continued its impassive fall.

“Nice speech, darling,” Rarity smiled, though I doubt Twilight could hear her.

“Do you think it worked?” Starlight asked, swiveling her ears to catch any suspicious sounds.

I shrugged, feeling nervous inside. “Seems that way.”

We moved towards the center carefully. Though there weren’t any sounds of battle anymore, the air was filled with the groans and screams of the wounded. I steeled my heart and ignored the noise, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to help anypony at the moment.

Soon, we finally saw the loyalists. I exhaled in relief when I noticed the tall figure of Marcus among them — he had survived the battle!

Everypony who could move was tending to the wounded, though I noticed the loyalists were being given the priority. I understood that completely. A large group of rebels were standing at some distance, but all of them were unarmed and looked pretty beat both morally and physically.

I trotted to meet my friend, while looking around for any signs of Ruby.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” I murmured, hugging his torso. He gently patted me on my head in return. “Have you seen Ruby?”

“I saw her about five minutes ago,” he said with a shrug and glanced around.

We went searching for Ruby together and it didn’t take long to finally find her. My heart sank into my hooves when I saw my marefriend...

“No!” I exclaimed, galloping towards an azure pony lying on the ground.

There was barely anything left of her armor, but that wasn’t the worst part. Her whole body was covered in blood. Somepony was already busy applying a tourniquet to her badly injured hind leg, so I clung to the hope that she was still alive.

“Is she alive?” I shot Sturdy a question, who stood nearby, looking lost.

He gave me a helpless look and shrugged, but the pony who was tending to her answered instead.

“For now,” a suspiciously familiar voice said. “Though I’m the wrong kind of doctor, to be sure.”

Shade threw a short glance at me and returned to his work. I didn’t attack him, despite my instincts screaming at me to do so — the Doctor appeared to be doing his best. Besides, I wasn’t about to bet Ruby’s life on my extremely limited medical skills.

“I’m sorry, Sunny,” Marcus said.

“She’s going to be fine,” I snapped back. “Earth ponies are tough.”

Marcus didn’t answer.

***

A couple of days had passed since our “victory”.

It wasn’t complete, though. Even though Tenebris was dead, the windigo were still out there, as well as Morning Bright. The latter had assumed control of Tenebris’ army and barricaded himself in Canterlot with whatever troops had remained. With the Crystal Army by our side, we could take it by force at any moment, but the Princesses were hoping to avoid the bloodshed, since enough of it had been spilled already.

Besides, the windigo would only grow more powerful by feeding on all the disharmony. While their influence was limited, it remained cold and cloudy, despite the weather pegasi’s best efforts, though it hadn’t been a complete failure — the snow had thankfully melted.

I, however, had other things that were keeping my mind occupied. My dear Ruby remained unconscious, even though I’d been promised she would recover eventually. I couldn’t ask for more, since the healers were being stretched pretty thin already, with hundreds of wounded from both sides.

“She’s going to be fine,” Starlight said, joining me by the campfire.

I grunted something in response.

Getting up, I stretched my limbs, cringing from dozens of bruises. I had probably cracked some bones, but I hadn’t had them checked by anypony — the others needed help much more than I did.

It was time to return to Ruby. My friends had convinced me to spend some time outside of the medical tent and so I had, but every minute apart from my injured marefriend made me anxious. Starlight followed me back without a word.

I nodded to the two crystal ponies guarding the entrance and walked inside, making a straight line to Ruby’s cot. Despite having seen it before, a lump appeared in my throat when my eyes fell on Ruby’s wounds. A bandaged stump was where her hip used to be...

“It could have been worse,” Starlight said, touching my shoulder with a hoof.

“Yeah.”

If it hadn’t been for Doctor Shade, Ruby would have died before any help could have arrived. His actions hadn’t changed his ultimate punishment — he and his marefriend would be banished from Equestria for life — but it had changed my opinion about him. I even believed in his earlier apology now.

I lowered myself by Ruby’s cot and prepared to wait as long as it would take for her to wake up, with Starlight settling by my side to keep me company. This time we didn’t have to wait for long.

Ruby stirred and I switched my full attention to her. I held my breath involuntarily, as if it could somehow disrupt her awakening, watching the mare slowly open her eyes. She blinked a few times and then looked around in confusion.

I put on my best smile, so it would be the first thing she saw.

“Did we win?” Ruby asked in a weak voice.

I bobbed my head and leaned forward to gently squeeze her around the neck, making sure not to cause her any discomfort or, Celestia forbid, pain. Ruby put her own forelegs around mine, pulling me closer and planting a kiss on my cheek.

“I was afraid I’d lost you when I heard that roar from the mountain,” she whispered. “What was that by the way?”

Pulling out from the hug, I exchanged glances with Starlight and began retelling Ruby the events that had taken place after I’d left the camp. I’d just gotten to my encounter with Morning Bright, when I stopped, unsure. Should I really bother Ruby with the details after she’d just—

“And then that bastard slammed her into the ground,” Starlight continued for me, trying to be helpful. “It was pretty rough.”

Ruby gasped, appalled. I gave Starlight a stern glare and she had the modesty to look sheepish. I continued the story, trying to ignore Ruby’s worried look.

“The windigo in Tenebris?!” Ruby exclaimed when I got to that part.

“Exactly!” Starlight cut in before I could answer. “That’s why she was so powerful. She had somehow harnessed their power inside of herself— ”

“— But the Void Stone messed it all up and they got free,” I said. “It’s a good thing they’re weakened, otherwise we’d be facing a blizzard here instead of some light snowfall.”

When I’d finally finished my story, Ruby still didn’t seem to realize that she was missing a limb, but it was only a matter of time until she did. It would be better if I broke the news to her gently, but I couldn’t quite choose the right words.

I couldn’t just say “By the way, you’re a three-legged pony now,” right? As I was scrambling for words, Ruby began to stir in her bed, as if planning to get up, so I put a hoof on her shoulder to stop her. She looked at me in surprise.

“What’s the last thing you remember?” I asked carefully.

Ruby thought for a moment and answered, “Well, I saw Doctor Shade fighting along with me and then some blast, I think. Though I’m pretty sure that was some hallucination. I mean, Shade saving my life... Crazy, isn’t it?”

I shook my head, smiling thinly. “Not a hallucination, dear. He did save your life. If it hadn’t been for him, you’d have lost much more than just a leg.”

It took a few seconds for my words to register, but when they did, Ruby’s face changed to a grimace of shock. She frantically checked her forelegs and not finding anything wrong with them finally looked down. She lifted her stump to get a better look.

“Oh my gosh...”

“I’m so sorry,” I said in a trembling voice and embraced the mare in a hug.

***

I remained with Ruby for the rest of the day, distracting her from brooding too much. My other friends visited from time to time, sharing the latest news on the progress of the ultimatum that the Princesses had given to Morning Bright.

The ultimatum was ending tomorrow morning, but so far Bright had showed no reaction, which was bothersome. If he and his ponies refused to lay down their weapons, then they’d face the most severe of punishments after Canterlot was reclaimed by force.

They were fools if they didn’t realize that.

“They did it!” Starlight burst into the tranquility of our medical tent like a hurricane.

“Did what?” I asked automatically. “You mean the ultimatum?”

“Yes! The rebels have attacked Morning Bright and he has escaped! Canterlot is officially ours now.”

Cheers sounded from all over the tent from the other injured soldiers who’d heard the announcement. Ruby and I were cheering too, while Starlight approached us to have a more private conversation.

“What about the windigos?” I asked the most important question and Starlight frowned.

“Well, Twilight has devised a theory on how to drive them away,” she said with a shrug. “Something about the Fire of Friendship...”

“I see.”

I, like everypony else, knew the legend behind Hearth’s Warming. Though I had always assumed that the windigos were just a story element, a metaphor, but I guess they were more real than I’d given them credit for. In any case, the creatures had been defeated by the Fire of Friendship that had sparked from three friends from different tribes, united by one goal.

That was how Equestria had been made.

“How’s Twilight is planning to recreate something like that?” I asked, genuinely curious.

“She didn’t share that with me, but there’s going to be a big ceremony tomorrow morning, so she must know what she’s doing,” explained Starlight. “At first, I thought they’d use the Elements, but Twilight said it’s going to be something else.”

We spent some more time trying to deduce what Twilight was going to do, when Marcus and Sturdy joined us. The discussion continued with new energy — the wildest theories were shared, from song-singing to a mass orgy that Marcus joked they’d do.

“Get it? The Fire of Friendship,” Marcus tried to explain, his face as red as a tomato, “And there’s nothing hotter than an orgy, right? I mean—” he continued his futile attempt, only digging himself deeper.

Everypony gave Marcus a long look and he finally stopped talking. I couldn’t help but giggle at his ashamed face and soon the others joined in. Even Marcus flickered a smile. In the back of my mind, I recalled my earlier thoughts — Marcus really needed a girlfriend.

***

The wounded were transferred to Canterlot Hospital by the next morning. The place was terribly understaffed, but the ponies that used to work there were sure to return after the government had regained control of the capital. For now, it was just the Crystal Army’s medics and volunteers helping the injured.

I stayed with Ruby, while the rest of my friends were getting ready for Twilight’s ceremony. As much as she wanted to, Ruby couldn’t move yet, though it hadn’t stopped her from trying to get up. Unfortunately, the missing leg wasn’t her only problem — countless minor wounds and some major blood loss had left her in a weak condition.

“Too bad Bright has escaped,” Ruby said. “I was going to wipe his muzzle on the floor for what he did to you.”

I shrugged, trying to suppress a grimace of pain from my shoulder. “It’s not that bad. And I’m sure he’ll be caught eventually.”

“Yeah, but not by me...”

Ruby threw a meaningful glance at her leg and I flattened my ears. It was hard seeing her like that, but losing a leg wasn’t the end of the world. Surely, there were prostheses and it wasn’t like she had lost one of the forelegs that she used for manipulating stuff.

“It’ll be okay,” I reassured her.

Suddenly, something caught my attention outside. I trotted to the window, gaping at what was happening before my eyes. A giant burning heart was floating above the city. It was transparent at first — I was able to see the gray clouds through it — but was slowly becoming more real. The purple flames burned brightly, illuminating the whole city in their mysterious light.

“What’s happening?” Ruby asked worriedly from her bed.

I turned around, realizing that Ruby couldn’t see anything. Without much of a thought, I grabbed the mare with my magic and levitated her near me. She yelped, but fell silent when she had seen the heart for herself.

“Twilight really did it,” I smiled, a feeling of warmth spreading inside. “It’s the Fire of Friendship.”

Ruby and I — and likely everypony in Canterlot — were watching the Heart grow stronger, supported by every pony in the city. The clouds were burning before its flame and I could swear I saw the ghostly shapes of the windigo, writhing in agony high above.

The Heart was pleasant to look at and we gazed at it in admiration long after the last traces of the windigo had vanished, until eventually the Heart began to fade away. I sighed and finally tore my stare off of it, turning to Ruby.

“I guess it’s really over now.”

***

An hour later, a loud noise ruthlessly ended my nap. I jerked and turned to the door, barely having the time to brace for the impact, as a pink furry creature tackled me, trying to squish my body in her firm grip.

“Easy, Pinkie, she’s hurt,” Starlight’s voice sounded from somewhere and the grip on me eased.

“Sorry,” Pinkie giggled, nuzzling my cheek. “I just missed Sunny.”

After that, she lifted me on my legs and I finally took a deep breath, looking at Twilight, Marcus, Sturdy and the girls walking into the room. After exchanging our greetings, we settled on the floor near Ruby’s bed.

“Well, spill it out!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed as soon as we had. “Can’t wait to hear it.”

I glanced at her in surprise.

“She wants to hear about our adventures, darling,” Rarity explained Rainbow’s intentions for me. “She was bothering Starlight and me all day about that.”

“Yeah, I wish I’d gone with you, Rares,” Rainbow said, as she hovered into the air in agitation, ignoring Twilight’s stare. “I bet it was much more awesome than the Crystal Empire. I mean, all we did there was some boring talking and stuff!”

“Aw, what about my party?” Pinkie pouted, lowering her ears. “I thought you liked it...”

“I did, I did! It was one of the best things there, to be honest,” Rainbow assured her hastily, invoking a relieved smile from the pink mare.

“Well, I think we did a great job in the Crystal Empire,” Twilight pointed out, looking offended. “Though it doesn’t diminish your achievements, of course.”

Having said that, Twilight flashed a smile to my friends and me, which I happily returned.

“Well, if you really want to know, then okay, I guess,” I nodded to Rainbow and then turned to Twilight. “But first, tell me, did your ceremony work? Are the windigo really gone?”

Twilight gave me a nod, her ears perking up in excitement.

“Oh, yes. They’ve been banished for sure. You see, I did some research into the Hearth’s Warming story when we were doing a play about it, and the Fire of Friendship seemed very similar to the Crystal Heart. Perhaps this is how the Crystal Heart had come to be in the first place! Anyway, I studied the Heart in depth and got some ideas on how to channel ponies’ emotions myself. Though I’d never had the opportunity to test it before today, it worked great.”

“Strong emotions fuel the magic...” Starlight murmured.

Rainbow waved her hoof impatiently. “Okay, now that you know all that, will you get on with the story?”

“Certainly,” I said and took a deep breath. “Well, the first big problem happened in a village a day’s walk from Canterlot...”

Epilogue

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EPILOGUE

Two months had passed since our victory, but Equestria was still recovering after that short, but bloody war. The pegasi were making progress in taming the wild weather that had been disrupted by the windigo to ensure a good harvest, while courts over the ex-rebels were being held every day. Most of the common fighters got just a few years of community service. While some ponies had been calling for harsher punishment, the government reserved it only for those who had committed the most heinous crimes.

I knew it all from Twilight and the occasional paper I had read, having spent all of that time in Ponyville, away from the big world. It was nice to finally return to a quiet job at Rarity’s boutique, instead of having to risk my life fighting powerful foes.

Today was another routine day on the job, when somepony burst in, almost startling me out of my chair. I quickly put the book I was reading behind the counter and turned to face the client with my official wide smile.

“Welcome—”

“Sundae, you won’t believe what happened!” the client interrupted me.

I relaxed after realizing it was just Marcus, though his appearance at the boutique was quite unusual. However, his voice certainly sounded happy, so he wasn’t bearing any bad news at least. I raised my eyebrows expectantly, inviting him to continue.

“Twilight has fixed the portal!”

My eyes widened. Twilight had been putting all her effort into doing that for the last few weeks, but the news still took me by surprise.

“Wow, that’s great!” I smiled as the new information sunk in. “Wait...Does that mean you’re going to leave?”

Marcus’ smile lost its energy.

“I guess so. As much as I like it here, home is home,” he said, shrugging. “Though I don’t know how I’ll explain your disappearance to the police...”

“Ah,” I drooped my ears.

My last phone talk with my stepmum had gone pretty poorly, since she hadn’t been able to recognize my changed voice, siccing the police on our heads. Obviously, I couldn’t have revealed myself as a pony, so Marcus and I had decided to hide at his place until we had figured that out.

But when we had become stuck in Equestria and the portal behind us had closed, the police had likely assumed the worst. If Marcus were to appear out of the blue without me in tow...

“I’ll go with you then,” I suggested.

Marcus shook his head.

“We can’t risk it, Sunny,” he said. “You’re a pony; you belong in Equestria. What would you do if the portal broke again and you got stuck on the other side this time? Besides, nopony would even recognize you as Annie there.”

“I thought the portal would transform me into a human?”

“Nope, Twilight couldn’t fix that part,” Marcus shook his head. “Nothing would change if you went through it.”

“Well, she’s smart. She’ll figure something out,” I waved my hoof dismissively. “Let’s go.”

Having said that, I first went upstairs to warn Rarity about what I had to do. As much as I liked having Marcus in Equestria, I knew he didn’t want to live here forever, so I was ready to do everything it took to help him get home. When Rarity learned the news, she decided to go along, closing the shop for the day. The three of us trotted to Twilight’s Castle together.

“Hello, ladies,” Sturdy, one of the two Royal Guardsponies at the entrance, greeted us.

I nodded in return. Sturdy had been allowed to stay in the Guard – despite being a changeling – for his help against Tenebris. Besides, he’d already passed the exams to join the Guard when he had infiltrated it, so he had every right to be here, though nopony except for his close friends knew of his true form.

We walked past the guards and split up. Marcus and Rarity went downstairs to Twilight’s lab, while I went to fetch Ruby from the kitchen. The mare had been spending a lot of time there, making every meal in the castle a culinary delight — it had helped her deal with the loss of her limb.

“Sup, Sunny,” she threw at me, not taking her attention off her task.

When I had explained the situation and my intentions to help Marcus, however, she became alarmed. Ruby stopped slicing up apples and turned to face me with a worried expression.

“You’re coming back after you’ve helped him, right?”

“Of course,” I smiled gently. “I wouldn’t leave you, silly.”

Ruby gave me a long kiss in return.

“You’d better not,” she warned me, waving her hoof in a mock threat. “I’ll go after you even with three legs, if I have to.”

I glanced at her wooden prosthesis thoughtfully. I had been working on an enchanted replacement for it in secret, which would be as good as her real leg. It was almost done and I considered revealing it to Ruby right now, but in the end, I decided to leave it as a surprise.

“You won’t have to,” I said instead, patting her on her shoulder.

Ruby nodded seriously. She took off her apron and together we went to join our friends downstairs. The mare’s gait was weird, but she managed to keep up with my speed. The wooden leg wasn’t perfect, but at least it got the job done. Getting down the stairs was harder, but she did that too without my help.

When we arrived, we saw Twilight arguing about something with Starlight, while Rarity, Marcus and Spike were watching them from afar. The mirror portal was standing on a podium in the center of the lab, its surface glistening with an inner light.

Nopony seemed to have noticed us, until I cleared my throat loudly.

“Ah, Sundae. Exactly the pony I need!” Twilight exclaimed excitedly; Starlight rolled her eyes behind her back.

“Why do you need me?” I asked carefully, approaching to take a closer look at the portal.

“You need to go with Marcus to settle his problem with the local law enforcement in his world, right?”

I nodded, watching Twilight cautiously. I didn’t like that slightly manic gleam in her eyes.

“Yeah, kind of. But I thought you hadn’t fixed the transformation spell yet.”

“Oh no, making the portal cast such a complicated spell is too advanced, even for me,” Twilight shrugged, not looking upset in the slightest. “But I can cast it myself! It won’t last quite as long, but it would be enough for a few hours. I would have to recast it often. That’s why I need to go with you!”

“You can’t go, Twilight,” Starlight said in a tone used to discourage foals from doing something dangerous. “You’re a princess, for Celestia’s sake. The portal is working fine for now, but what if something happens with it while you’re on the other side?”

“It would be an invaluable opportunity to study a whole new world, with completely different laws and magic,” Twilight said, her gaze drifting somewhere far away, as she smiled dreamily.

Starlight exhaled in exasperation and looked at us pleadingly.

“I don’t see a problem with Twilight going, honestly,” I said, ignoring a hurt look in Starlight’s eyes. “She’s fixed the portal once; I’m sure she’d do that again if necessary. And it seems like I would need her help to look like a human.”

“It took Twilight months to fix the portal! And she had all her books to lean on. She won’t have the same advantage out there,” Starlight argued. “I’m not saying Twilight can’t go at all, just not for the first run. I’ll go with you instead and make you look like a human if that is necessary. A simple illusion spell would do just fine, I think.”

“Well, maybe you’re right,” I agreed after a moment of consideration.

Twilight pouted, looking from one face to another and not finding any comfort.

“Fine,” she said in the end. “I guess it’s reasonable if I stay here this time... but if everything goes fine, the next time I’ll go.”

“Deal.”

***

The preparations lasted until the evening. We would have finished them faster, but we were distracted by a goodbye party that Pinkie Pie had organized in a matter of hours. Now, after that was over, everypony had gathered in the lab before the portal, ready to go.

Twilight’s horn was glowing, observing the portal’s status, while Marcus, Starlight and I waited for her approval. Marcus was wearing his old clothes, restored by Rarity a long time ago, and a backpack with memorable things he’d gathered while in Equestria. Soon ,Twilight nodded, giving us a signal to go.

“Be careful, please,” Ruby told me one more time.

I nodded and before I knew it, I had walked straight into the mirror’s glistening surface. After a sickening feeling of falling, I landed on all fours on the other side. The others arrived without any problems either a few seconds later.

“Home, sweet home,” Marcus stated with a grin, taking a deep breath of fresh forest air.

I didn’t relax, however, looking around at the trees carefully. The last time we’d been here, a mad hunter with his dog had assaulted us. I wouldn’t have been surprised to see him stalking this place months later — he certainly seemed the crazy type. Thankfully, nopony was watching us.

“So, this is Earth, huh,” Starlight said, poking the ground. “It looks kind of gloomy.”

“It looks perfect,” interjected Marcus. “Come on, cast that illusion spell on Sundae and yourself and let’s go at last.”

The unicorn shrugged and did as she was told. I was blinded momentarily by a flash of her horn, but when I opened my eyes, I didn’t feel any different. Starlight herself, however, looked like Marcus’ ugly brother.

She was very similar in appearance to the guy, though her face had a few key differences from Marcus’, such as a bigger nose and thinner lips. The real Marcus stared at her and me in turns, with raised eyebrows.

“What the hell is that?” he asked. “Sunny looks nothing like herself. She’s not even a girl now!”

I looked at my hooves in surprise — for me everything looked exactly like before — until I realized that Starlight’s illusion must be invisible to the one who’s under it.

“Well, I don’t know what she’s supposed to look like,” Starlight said in her defense. “It’s just a temporary disguise, until I see some photos of her human form.”

“Cast a disguise on me, then,” Marcus said. “I don’t want to be recognized by some cop.”

When the disguise issue was sorted out, we moved to the edge of the forest. While it was evening in Equestria, here it was an early morning, so the forest was illuminated by a rising sun. No wild animal got in our way, though after our encounter with timberwolves, real wolves would be child’s play for us.

I doubted any real wolves could be found in England, though.

Soon, we had stepped onto the road, with walking becoming much easier. We reached the town within a few hours and went to look for a place with a free electrical socket straight away. Marcus had his old phone with him and my photos were on it, but it needed to be charged first.

As we walked on the street, Starlight looked at the passing cars in wonder. Everything in this world was new to her, even though Marcus and I had talked about it in detail. But as the saying went — better to see something once, than to hear about it a thousand times.

“Here’s some cafe,” Marcus said, pointing at a small place across the street.

We quickly crossed the road and walked inside. Except for our company, the place was almost empty. A few guys were sitting behind the bar, having some coffee, but that was all. Starlight and I picked a table by the wall with a convenient socket, while Marcus went to order a meal.

“So this is what a human city looks like,” Starlight said. “Everything looks so similar, but at the same time so alien to me...”

“Yeah, I had the same feeling when I first got to Equestria,” I chuckled. “Just wait until you see London.”

Marcus joined our table a few minutes later, carrying three cups of tea with cupcakes for us, and one big cheeseburger for himself. He quickly connected his phone to a charger and picked up the cheeseburger from his plate. Starlight looked at the guy with interest, as he took a massive bite.

“What are you eating? Smells delicious,” she asked, taking a sip of her tea.

“Oh, this? This is called a cheeseburger,” Marcus said between bites. “God, this tastes amazing. I haven’t eaten meat in months!”

Starlight choked on her cupcake and had to drink half of her cup in one go to wash it all down. She watched Marcus devouring the cheeseburger with a mix of disgust and desire.

“I didn’t know meat could smell that good,” she admitted.

I realized that I liked the smell myself, despite being repulsed by it when I’d first transformed back into a pony. Maybe my body had still been rebuilding, so my senses had been all mixed up. I wondered what would happen if I took a bite...

“I’ve heard of ponies who enjoy griffon food, but I’ve never tasted it myself,” Starlight said.

“I didn’t know ponies could even eat meat,” I said, glancing at what was left of Marcus’ cheeseburger. He was finishing it already.

“Oh, they can, though I wouldn’t say it’s very healthy,” Starlight shrugged. “I always thought the ponies who ate it were crazy, but if it smells half as good as this...”

While we were discussing griffon dietary practices, Marcus’ phone had been charged enough to turn on. He whistled when he saw how many lost calls and messages there were. I noticed that most of them were from his parents.

“Here she is,” he finally said, opening my old photo on fullscreen.

Starlight and I examined it with interest. I’d already forgotten what my human face looked like — it was nothing like my pony one. We waited about half an hour until the phone had been charged some more, and then we left the place. Starlight was confident she could replicate my old appearance to make a perfect illusion, but we needed some private corner to do it, away from prying eyes.

A yard behind the cafe was the perfect place for it. At least that was what I’d thought, until I noticed a couple of guys smoking there. I recognized them from the cafe. They ignored us, while we waited for them to finish and return to the cafe a few minutes later.

As soon as they had done so, Starlight cast a new illusion on me.

“Now that’s better,” Marcus nodded in approval. “That’s the Annie I recognize!”

***

We arrived in London by noon.

Marcus had had just enough money left to pay a local taxi driver to get us to the city. Starlight was quite impressed by the cityscape, and we weren’t even close to the center.

“This city is so big...” I heard her murmur.

The cab dropped us off at my foster parents’ house. It was a small manor at the city’s edge — this family was well off. I took a deep breath approaching the gate and ringed the doorbell. I repeated it a few times, until a familiar voice answered.

“Yes, who is it?”

“It’s about your daughter, Miss Brown,” Starlight said. “Let us talk inside.”

“Are you from the Police? Get in then, please.”

The gate buzzed and opened. We exchanged a glance and I walked inside in trepidation, as my friends followed. Crossing the yard, we stopped before the house and waited until my stepmum opened the front door.

She gasped and her eyes widened in surprise. It was a little disconcerting that she was looking somewhere above my real head, though, fooled by the illusion. Mum looked just like I last remembered, which wasn’t surprising, considering I’d seen her less than six months ago.

“Annie?!” she exclaimed, about to hug me, but I raised my hoof to stop her.

“Let’s get inside first,” I said and she frowned.

“What’s wrong with your voice?” my stepmum asked.

However, she stepped to the side, allowing us to proceed into the house. I went straight to the guest hall, remembering the house layout from my life here, and jumped on the sofa, with my friends mirroring my move. My stepmum slowly followed, keeping her eyes peeled on me, and settled on the opposite sofa.

“Now, where have you been for the last three months?” she asked, frowning deeply. Then her eyebrows rose in alarm. “You haven’t joined some gang, did you?”

I chuckled. “No, mum, nothing like that. You see, my past has caught up with me...”

I began telling her what had happened from the very beginning, but she interrupted me when I got to the “turning into a pony” part.

“Have you been… using substances?” she asked in a small voice. “I thought we had taught you better than this.”

“Using substances? No, I haven’t been using substances. I really am a pony,” I assured her. “What you’re seeing now is just an illusion.”

“Oh my god, you’ve joined one of those sects,” my stepmum pointed an accusing finger at Marcus. “Was it this guy who recruited you? He’s a main suspect in your disappearance, you know.”

“I know, but Marcus had nothing to do with it,” I shook my head. “All he did was to help me. Starlight, dispel the illusion.”

In a flash of light, the illusion both on her and me was gone, and my stepmum saw our true forms. She jumped off her couch with a squeal of fright and tried to run, but Starlight caught her in her magic and kept her suspended until my stepmum had calmed down enough to listen to my explanations.

“I told you it was the truth, mum,” I said to her when she was put back on the sofa.

“Yeah, it’s still hard to believe,” the woman shook her head. “So there is a world out there full of ponies like you? And you’re one of them?”

“Basically, yes.”

I told her everything that had led to my transformation and me going to Equestria, though I skipped the details, like the war and such. This time she didn’t interrupt. She listened with a bewildered expression on her face, but seeing the ponies before her very eyes, it was hard to dismiss our story as some fiction.

“As you can see, I didn’t kidnap your daughter,” Marcus said in the end.

My stepmum sighed.

“It seems that way,” she said. “I guess you’ll return to your Equestria now?”

“Sorry, but yes,” I nodded. “I plan to visit you and dad quite often, though. Maybe I’ll even introduce you two to my biological parents. But not before I make sure the charges against Marcus have been dropped.”

My stepmum gasped at my stepdad’s mention.

“I should call him right away! Please, don’t leave until he gets here. He’ll be happy to see you.”

I assured her that I wouldn’t and leaned back, ready to wait.

***

The five of us were standing before the magical stone in the forest.

Three humans and two ponies. My stepmum, stepdad and Marcus were saying their goodbyes to us, as we were ready to leave. It had taken a damn week, but in the end, we had been able to prove Marcus’ innocence and my well-being. We’d had to lie our flanks off to explain our disappearance, but in the end the case had been closed.

“I’ll miss you, Sunny,” Marcus got to his knees to give me a hug.

“Don’t,” I patted him on the head. “I’ll promise to visit at least twice a month on weekends. You know, Twilight would need somepony to explain how things work here.”

“Don’t forget to visit us too, Annie,” my stepdad asked. “You don’t mind if I still call you Annie, do you?”

I shrugged. It didn’t really matter to me — Annie was a good name. We exchanged a hug as well and then it was my stepmum’s turn to talk.

“Can I visit your world sometime?” she asked pleadingly. “What you’ve told me about it sounds delightful. I used to travel a lot when I was younger, you know.”

“I’ll have to ask Twilight, but I’m sure she won’t mind,” I assured her.

We talked about small stuff for a few more minutes. I wasn’t quite ready to leave — having spent a week with them had made me remember all the good times we’d had together. It was hard to leave it all behind, but it wasn’t like I wasn’t going to see them again...

“We should go, Sunny,” Starlight put a hoof on my withers. “Ruby must be worried sick about you.”

That gave me the resolve I needed.

“Well, this is it.”

I turned to the stone and approached it, stopping very close but not quite touching it. I looked behind at the faces of my foster parents and Marcus as they waved. I felt a pang of sadness and then looked higher at the evening sun.

It was warm and bright, but not quite the same as in Equestria. Turning away, I made a final step forward.

It was time to go home.

Return of the Mare

by Victoria

Part I - Chapter 1: The Discovery

Part I - Chapter 2: The Mirror

Part I - Chapter 3: The Revelation

Part II - Chapter 4: The Change

Part II - Chapter 5: The Strange Tail

Part II - Chapter 6: A Shot In the Dark

Part III - Chapter 7: Back to Equestria

Part III - Chapter 8: Friendship Problems

Part III - Chapter 9: Welcome to Ponyville

Part III - Chapter 10: Recovery

Part III - Chapter 11: Sundae Investigates

Part III - Chapter 12: Haunted By the Past

Part III - Chapter 13: Marks and Revelations

Part IV - Chapter 14: Shady Business

Part IV - Chapter 15: A Tenebrous Threat

Part IV - Chapter 16: A Daring Escape

Part IV - Chapter 17: A Change of Heart

Part IV - Chapter 18: The Key to Success

Part IV - Chapter 19: The Lesser Evil

Part IV - Chapter 20: The Manehattan Project

Part IV - Chapter 21: A Change In Plans

Part IV - Chapter 22: The Last Stand

Epilogue